The Rise of Iconia
by wesleyehowell
Summary: Part Two of the Quadrilogy. The Iconians from "The Birth of Iconia" arrive in the future only to discover that wars happen everywhere. This story takes place in the altered universe of Star Trek: 2009, but in the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It contains the characters listed, but also most of the characters from "Birth". Reading "Birth" first is probably a good idea.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N - This is the sequel to Birth Of Iconia. As before, we do not own Stargate, Eureka, or Star Trek. We're just fans._

_For answers to any reviews on this story, please see our forum which is listed in my profile._

_**Chapter 1**_

"Let's get the hell out of here," Captain James T. Kirk said, standing on the surface of the Guardian Planet. He reached for his communicator to call Scotty for beam out, when everything stopped. The constant moaning of the wind through the ruins ceased, and even his friends stopped moving. He looked around him and only then realized that the power pulsating through the Guardian of Forever seemed to still be in motion. He stepped forward. "What's going on?"

The Guardian pulsed for a moment, then a man stepped through. He appeared to be human with long, graying hair and a full beard. He was shorter than Kirk, but he wore an air of authority around him like a mantel. He was dressed in a white robe with gold embroidery around every edge. He looked at Kirk for a long moment, then smiled. "Captain Kirk, it has been a long time since we last met. I am Zeus."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't remember ever meeting you, and I'm sure I'd remember someone called Zeus," Kirk said. "Would you mind telling me if you're responsible for…" He waved his hand at his crew, still standing motionless. "That," he finished, unsure of what else to say.

"Technically, the Guardian did it, but since I built the Guardian, I guess you could hold me responsible."

Kirk nodded. "Are you the Zeus I've read about in Greek mythology?"

Zeus pursed his lips for a moment, then sat down on a fallen pillar. He looked around for a moment at what had once been a magnificent city, then back to Kirk. "In a manner of speaking, I suppose I am."

"Then I'm sure I haven't met you."

"In your life, you haven't met me yet, but we will meet in your future. My past." He saw the look of confusion on Kirk's face, then realization.

"You're from the future, aren't you?"

"And the past," he said matter-of-factly. Kirk flashed a dangerous look at him, and he quickly continued. "Time doesn't flow for me as it does for you, Kirk. I created the Guardian… Well, actually, I set the parameters for it, and it sort of…. built itself, but that's not why I'm here.

"In your future, you will meet the greatest ally that the Federation will ever have. They are incredibly powerful, but when you meet them, they will be close to helpless. They will have just been catapulted through time after defeating enemies that have destroyed civilizations across several galaxies.

"You will have the privilege of first contact with them… You and your great grandson, anyway. What you will need to do is not let fear lead you. You will marvel at what they've accomplished, but don't let that blind you to the fact that they will need your help."

"What kind of help will they need?" Kirk asked.

Zeus ignored the question, but rather stood and walked over to the Guardian. He placed a hand on it and rested it there for several moments. Then he seemed to shake himself and looked once again at the ruins which stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Time has been damaged, Kirk. That's why I built the Guardian. It was to ensure that time fractured no more than it has. The Guardian is why you were drawn here today. Certain points in time are permanent. No matter how reality changes, these focal points will remain fixed. This keeps time from fracturing, and realities from overlapping."

"How was time damaged?"

"A fixed point in time was changed." Zeus was looking at the horizon as he spoke, but now he turned to face Kirk. "Will be changed. By you." At Kirk's look, Zeus laughed. "Don't worry, Kirk. You won't remember our conversation in enough detail to change your future. Not until you're responsible enough to not change it anyway."

The robed figure began to pace. "The Guardian scans through time constantly, and sees what needs to be done to maintain things as they are. Then, it sets in motion the events that will lead to the necessary outcomes." Kirk looked disbelieving. "I know, that sounds incredible, but it is fact. Without the Guardian, time would have completely disintegrated by now. As it is, things are considerably changed from what they had been." He stopped pacing and gazed at Kirk. "Would you believe that originally, there was just a handful of different species throughout the universe and that humans had been spread throughout the Milky Way by another culture? Now, you will find no evidence of that, because it was eons ago, but it's the truth."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kirk asked, starting to lose patience.

Zeus sighed and sat again. "Because it is something you will need to know. When the Guardian places you back in the time frame of your friends, you won't remember what I've told you. It will come back to you in the future, and you will have the information when you need it." He saw that Kirk looked skeptical. "I'm sorry. I haven't had anyone to actually talk to for a long time. I've missed it so I've rambled. You won't need the information about the Guardian, but I suppose you knowing it won't hurt anything. You simply need to know about the allies. Remember. Don't let fear guide you." He stood and addressed the Guardian. "Take me back."

The scene that showed itself in the portal held steady on the scene surrounding Kirk, but the city showing inside the aperture was not as decayed as reality. It seemed as though it was a newer version of the world around him.

"You came from the past?" Kirk asked.

"The future," Zeus said as he stepped through the portal. The scene disappeared, and the wind started howling again. Kirk pulled out his communicator and asked Scotty to beam them aboard. As far as he was concerned, nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.

_Twenty-Seven Years Later…_

Admiral James T. Kirk, Commander of Starfleet, was seated, speaking to Captain John Harriman. Normally, there would be little contact between someone like Kirk and Harriman, but as the younger man was, tomorrow morning, leaving on the shakedown cruise of the newest in the line of ships named, _Enterprise_, the B model, Kirk was watching his career closely. The two had become friends over the last year, while the Excelsior class vessel was being built. Today, they were discussing how the original _Enterprise_, under Kirk's command, had met two gigantic warships locked in a battle which had lasted for almost a hundred fifty thousand years. While their crews had died, and in fact, their entire civilizations had crumbled, the ships had carried on fighting, controlled by their artificial intelligences.

As Kirk was describing how he had bluffed the ships out of Federation territory, he began to feel his head swimming. Suddenly, he found himself chopping wood for a wood stove. He was dressed in a strange uniform. It had all the markings of a captain's uniform, but it wasn't one he recognized. He looked around in satisfaction, and found a strange, balding man approaching. He questioned none of what was happening, although he recognized very little. He thought he was on an Idaho ranch belonging to his uncle, but he may have been imagining that.

Before he could place anything else, however, he was back in his seat, facing Harriman. "Excuse me, John. I'm not feeling too well. Must have been the brandy with McCoy last night." He chuckled softly.

Harriman gave him a strange look, but rose swiftly. "Of course, Sir," he said and left the room.

Kirk rose to his feet, unsteadily, and walked to the window that looked out into the central section of the starbase. He saw _Enterprise B_, in it's final stages of being built. When he looked up, he could see his personal flagship, _Enterprise-A_ resting, umbilicals hooked to her primary hull and nacelles. She was referred to simply as "_A_" most of the time and Harriman's ship would be referred to as "_B_" as a distinction between them. Normally, there would be no two ships with the same name, let alone registration number, but the name could not be retired due to tradition. Nor would Kirk allow his ship to be retired, or rechristened. Instead _A_ was refitted and armed to the teeth.

He gazed for a long moment at his ship, then another wave of dizziness hit him. He found himself laying on the floor of a ravine, with some kind of a collapsed catwalk on top of him. He was in pain, and the bald man was gazing into his eyes. "It was… fun," Kirk told him. He felt his life ebbing away, and he said, "Oh my..." quietly before dying.

Then, it was as if a dam had been broken and he suddenly understood what he had seen. He recognized the bald man. He knew that he had in fact, just lived his own death, but in a different reality. The bald man was his great grandson, who hadn't even been born yet. Wouldn't be born for another twenty five years. They had entered the Nexus, and had proceeded to stop Soran from diverting the energy ribbon by destroying the Viridian star. He remembered all that had happened in that lifetime. His father congratulating him on his graduation from the Academy, finding his brother's dead body on Deneva… turning him over and seeing his lifeless face.

His brother was still alive in this reality, and the fact that he had died young in the other timeline shook him to the core. He couldn't imagine his brother not being around.

He remembered covering his son's lifeless form on the rapidly deteriorating Genesis planet while Saavik told him how David was a hero. His eyes clouded over as the memories of so many lost friends assaulted him. Losing Spock when Khan detonated the Genesis device, and seeing him raise an eyebrow when he was brought back to life through fal-tor-pan and remembered his friends.

Not only were his friends different, but _Enterprise_ herself was different. She was approximately the same size and shape, but her nacelles were a different shape, and her bridge was much more open on his ship then in the other reality.

But the thing which he found strangest was that he was now a being called a Q, just like Spock. But not the one who had been his first officer for years - at least not yet. That Spock had not reached the point in his lifetime where he became Q.

_Seventy-Five Years Later... _

The _USS Enterprise_, NCC-1701D, under the command of Jean Luc Picard, had been placed at the disposal of the science team on Regula I. The science station had been in service for many decades, with Carol Marcus, Jim Kirk's former science officer, in charge. She and her son, David, had devised a method of terraforming a planet in a matter of hours instead of years. The implications for the Federation were staggering, if it could be perfected. The project, Genesis, had been pushed to the background for years while David worked on solving problems inherent in the procedure. Initially, he had used protomatter to solve the problems, but from the equations, was able to eventually compensate for the problems inherent in using regular matter. Now, the device was ready to be tested, and Picard and his crew were looking for a suitable planet for use as the test subject.

Picard's science officer, Curzon Dax, was bored. He had scanned literally thousands of worlds, none of which fitted the specifications of totally lifeless. Granted, there were lots of totally lifeless planets, but none were of the correct size and distance from their star for the experiment to be useful. "_What good is a terraforming missile if it can't be used anywhere?"_ he thought. He knew that David Marcus was Admiral Kirk's son, and Commodore Picard's grandfather, but the Genesis device was useless if they couldn't find a place to use it. "_Oh well," _ he thought, "_yours is not to know, but just to do. If you hadn't gotten yourself busted, you would be making the decisions now, instead of Picard._"

The tactical officer, Captain Martok, announced, "Incoming message from Regula I, Commodore."

"On Screen, Captain," Picard said. The two men were of the same rank, but while Picard was the regular commander of _Enterprise_, Martok was the battle Captain, and would assume command of the battle bridge in any situation requiring the separation of the ship. Picard would retain command of his bridge, and ultimately, any fleet traveling with _Enterprise_, including the battle section.

The screen wavered as the image of David Marcus came into being. "Hello, Commodore," he said. He was careful to treat Picard with the dignity a man in his position deserved, and while he would refer to him as Jean Luc in private, he would never call him by his first name in front of his crew.

"Dr. Marcus. It is a pleasure to see you again, Sir."

"Likewise. I have received a communique from Starfleet, saying that we are to be picked up by you and ferried to a set of coordinates. There we will meet with Admiral Kirk and _A_. Have you received similar orders?"

Picard looked at Martok, who shook his head. "Negative, Doctor," he told his grandfather. "I will contact Starfleet immediately and investigate, however."

Before he could give the order, Martok announced, "Incoming message from Starfleet, Sir."

"Split screen, Captain," Picard ordered. When Admiral Kirk's image appeared, Picard stood. "Good afternoon, Admiral," he said. Behind Kirk, Picard recognized the bridge of _A_, so it was apparent that they were already headed for the rendezvous spot. "I have been speaking to Dr. Marcus. Am I to assume that these are orders complementing his?"

"They are, indeed, Commodore. Please follow the orders to the letter, and when we rendezvous, I will fill you in on the details."

Kirk instructed Picard to pick up Marcus and to then travel to Wolf 359, a star system just seven point eight light years from Earth. There, _A _and _D_ were to rendezvous, then travel to a location Kirk would disclose at that time.

_Wolf 359…_

_Enterprise D_ glided to a gentle stop just a few kilometers from _A._ Martok contacted the communications officer on Kirk's ship, Uhura, and they arranged a meeting. The senior staff of _D_ were to beam to _A_ for a briefing. There, they would be informed of the nature of this operation.

Picard rarely got to board _Enterprise A_. When he did, though, it was a distinct pleasure. The ship was nowhere near the size of his own _Enterprise, _but it seemed more spacious. Because of automation, installed and improved over the years by Mr. Scott, the genius who was still Kirk's chief engineer, all functions could be controlled by a handful of people. As a result, the ship that once held four hundred thirty-two people, now had a crew compliment of less than fifty. What was amusing to Picard, was that the handpicked crew were all senior officers in their chosen fields. When _A_ left spacedock, it did so with the most senior people in Starfleet manning all stations. Because of this, the ship would almost certainly never see battle because her crew was just too valuable. However, if she ever did, she could be just as nasty as her younger sister, _D_.

Picard, his first officer William Riker, Battle Captain Martok, and Doctor Marcus materialized on board _A_. Standing at the transporter console was Captain of Engineering, Montgomery Scott.

"Scotty!" Picard said, happy to see the engineer. "How are you?"

"I'm doing just fine, Commodore. And yerself?"

"Fine, Scotty. I know Geordie is looking forward to seeing you. He has some ideas he wants to discuss when you get the chance. Just make sure he stays sober this time, please?"

Scotty laughed with Picard as he remembered the last time he and his friend 'discussed engineering ideas'. Riker also remembered the incident but Martok was curious. "What happened?" he asked.

Scotty turned beet red, and Picard seemed to develop a keen interest in a point just to the right of the sliding doors of the transporter room. Riker wasn't sure what he should say, but Marcus asked Scotty, "Was that the time my grandson got a call to bail out a couple of engineers from the neighboring star system?"

Martok looked shocked as Scotty nodded sheepishly. "It was a matter of honor, Sir," he told the Klingon. A couple of centaurans got the idea that their sailer was faster than the one me'n Geordie were buildin'. They thought they could beat us, but we used the gravitational field from the secondary star in the system to slingshot us into the lead."

"What they didn't know," Picard said, "Was that Centauran law prohibits such a maneuver because of the danger of incineration."

"Ach," Scotty scoffed. "There was no danger. We knew what we were doin, Sir."

"Of course you did, but they had no idea that the paper they cited in their law was written by you and Mr. LaForge."

"We're always conservative in a paper like that. Better to be safe than sorry, but LaForge knew we were safe. He refigured right before we did it. Passed within twenty thousand kilometers of the surface of the star."

Riker leaned close to Martok and said in a low voice. "Last time I heard this story, it was twenty-five thousand kilometers."

Scotty laughed. "Aye, an next time, it'll be fifteen. The Admiral is waiting in the briefing room for us, gentlemen."

The four from _D_ exited the transporter room accompanied by Scotty, and headed down the hall to the turbolift. Picard did know the layout of _A_ quite well. He had spent many happy hours on board her as a child as he learned at the knee of his hero and great grandfather.

They arrived very quickly at the briefing room. Kirk's security chief was waiting outside the door. Seeing them, he spun around, and unlocked the door. They were ushered into the room where they found Kirk and his two best friends in all the universe, Spock and Doctor McCoy. The five sat down, Scotty beside Dr. McCoy, and the rest facing the officers of _A._

"Welcome," Kirk greeted the newcomers. As a consequence to Picard's relationship with this man, all of them had met several times before, so there were no introductions to be made. Rather, the pleasantries of friends who hadn't seen each other in quite some time.

Once they had settled, Kirk explained. "We received a subspace message from a Klingon scout ship a couple of days ago. Their captain, Klaa, reported that they had passed within a few kilometers of a massive fleet while cloaked."

Spock touched a button on the table in front of him and the central viewer showed a ship that looked more like a city than anything that should ever be in space.

"This is an image of one of the ships," Kirk said. "Spock? Would you care to elaborate?"

"Certainly, Admiral," the Vulcan said. "The design is fascinating. It seems to be more a spaceborne city than a ship, although what drives it is, as yet, unknown. Klingon scans picked up a remarkably resilient shield surrounding the city which appears to be capable of both keeping the ship airtight and deflecting almost any type of weapon we could throw at them." He flipped a switch and another vessel appeared on the screen. "This vessel appears to be constructed in an entirely different manner. It is highly technological in it's appearance. It is somewhat similar to a Klingon vessel in shape, except for the vertical fins on the top and bottom of both wings." Another switch and another vessel appeared. "This vessel is somewhat analogous to a Terran aircraft, with delta pitched wings and tail section." Another picture, which blew the mind. It showed a city, but of a completely different design from the first one. This city appeared to be unable to land on a planet, but instead was massive and had buildings above and below the center line. The previous city ship had shown incredibly tall towers, graceful in their architecture. This one, equally as graceful, had no soaring towers, but massive buildings with beautiful designs. The city gave the impression of being shorter than the first, but according to the scale shown beside it, the buildings were equally as tall. Indeed, if the scale was correct, the volume of this vessel would be several times that of the first city.

Spock let the aspects of these vessels soak in. "These are the least of the militaristic vessels in the fleet. If we include the small one and two man crafts in this convoy, there are well over ten thousand vessels, and each of the larger ships appears to be equally as well armed as either of our ships. Many of them are showing severe battle damage, however."

"Recommendations, Mr. Spock?" Kirk asked.

"While there is evidence that this fleet has been through a harsh battle, I recommend we commence diplomatic relations. At the very least, we need to ascertain if they pose a threat."

"Thank you," Kirk said. He looked at his son and great grandson. "Gentlemen?"

"Why are you even asking our opinions?" David wanted to know. "Are you honestly considering fighting them?"

Kirk's expression didn't shift in the slightest. "I'm asking what you think, David. You're a scientist, and your opinion is valued by Starfleet in general, me in particular. So what do you think?"

"I think we'd be foolish to even consider fighting them, if for no other reason than the sheer number of ships they have."

"While I agree with Dr. Marcus," Picard said, "I think we must ask ourselves another question. Are we certain all of these ships are allies with each other? What if we are looking at both sides of a battle that is figuratively licking it's wounds before resuming hostilities?"

Spock lifted one eyebrow, then asked, "May I ask what would make you even consider such a notion?"

Picard shook his head. "I don't consider it likely, Mr. Spock. I do, however, consider it a possibility. As for what would make me consider it, I consider it a possibility because we must consider everything, no matter how farfetched it may be."

Kirk eyed Martok, something about the Klingon's bearing said that he had something to say. "Battle Captain Martok?"

Martok looked from Kirk to Picard. "I agree with Commodore Picard that we must examine all possibilities, but I think it highly unlikely that this is two opposing forces. None of the signs are there. They look to me like someone who has recently fought a battle and taken heavy casualties."

"Heavy casualties?" Riker asked. "With all due respect, Captain Martok, there are over ten thousand ships out there, Martok. How many do you think there were before they took heavy casualties?"

"I understand how unlikely that seems, Riker, but I believe it to be the case."

Kirk was examining the wide angle view that showed several ships at once. "I think you're right, Martok." He looked at the rest of the group. "I think that, regardless of anything else, we need to try to establish diplomatic relations. This doesn't seem to be the sort of fleet we want traversing our space unescorted. I'll contact President Sulu and inform him of our findings, but I think it will be up to you, Spock, to establish relations. Will that work?"

Spock nodded gravely. "I believe so, Admiral."

The group from _D_ returned to their ship, and the fleet of two ships got underway, heading to a rendezvous that held, at this point in time, only a mystery.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: We do not own Trek, Eureka, or Stargate. Please review! _

_**Chapter 2**_

Thor stood on the bridge of the _O'Neill_, gazing out at the Iconian fleet. He looked at the stars, and didn't recognize their positions. What was disturbing was that some of the stars appeared to be where they should be, but only if he was three hundred thousand years in the future. Some stars were out of place completely, or didn't correlate at all to any stars in Avalon. It was frustrating, because at times, he felt like he should know where he was, but then a star would be there that shouldn't be or one would be missing. To top it off, none of the ships were able to enter hyperspace. Everytime they tried, the engines simply overheated. The real kicker, as Jack would say, was that all of the Wraith, five Stasis ships, and three of the Jaffa ships were missing. No one had any idea what happened to them and there were no signs that they would be able to find them.

A presence was suddenly beside him. "Hi, Thor. Good to see you made it."

Thor turned and saw his friend, Jack O'Neill. "Hello, O'Neill. Where have you been? It's been two days since the battle."

Jack laughed. "Thor, buddy, it's been a heck of a lot longer than that."

Thor looked out the window at the frustrating stars again. "I would hazard that it has been three hundred thousand years, except for some stars that are frustratingly either there or not."

"Three hundred two thousand, four hundred seventy one years, to be exact."

Thor nodded. "Where are we now?"

"Same place. The extra stars and the missing ones? They're because reality kinda hiccupped."

Again, Thor nodded. "I think I understand, O'Neill. Two or more realities converged. Was it not time for the Doci to die?"

Jack shook his head. "Yes and no. Thor, the Commander, and the First tell me that the reality they came from… the one we are now in, was a fractured one. As far as we can tell, five realities, possibly many more, converged into one, and it gets even more complicated because this is an altered version of the fractured reality."

Thor smiled. "I think I'll be needing some aspirin on a regular basis then, O'Neill."

Jack grinned and looked out the window at the starscape. "You said it, Buddy."

_Later that evening..._

Merlin had gathered the leaders of Iconia into the Camelot council chambers again. "Ladies and gentlemen. Some of us have now come full circle. Some of our older Ancients and Q are actually from this time period we find ourselves in now. The First, Commander and myself are out there approaching, as are younger versions of the twins, among others. They are about to visit and will be seeking diplomatic relations with us as we are now in their territory. The Jean Luc Picard who is approaching must not know about me for now, nor can the Ambassador Spock who is approaching know about the First.

"I will remain on board the sphere, as it is safe for me to remain, but some of the Q who exist in this time period as Q already, must leave. For example the First and the Commander as well as Hippaforalkus must return to the continuum for now. They are not gone, however. Their former selves are here, and are Q, although at the present time, Riker does not know he is Q."

The First stepped forward and addressed the crowd. "For my part, there are two of me in this time period already. One who is Q and one not. The version of me who is Q will take my place here, on the sphere as representative leader for those of us who are Q. While I was him long ago, it will be beneficial to have him in this position, so that the people of this time period understand that he is the Spock Prime that they know. While I would consider such a situation to be mere semantics, they will not. Therefore, I take my leave of you for now." With that, the First disappeared in a flash, and on the other side of the platform, a man in a Vulcan softsuit flashed into being. He was clearly the same person who had just disappeared, and even though there was absolutely no difference in his appearance to give away his age, there was a general sense that he was younger, and didn't have as much experience. Or was there?

"Greetings, Iconians. I am called Spock. I am the same individual who just left these chambers, albeit an earlier incarnation of him. It was our thought that my presence here would facilitate the upcoming negotiations with the people of this time period."

Merlin stepped forward and held his hand up in the Vulcan Salute. "Greetings, Ambassador. It is good to see you. Peace and long life."

Spock raised his hand in the salute as well, and said, "Greetings, Merlin. It is gratifying to see you as well, however I question the use of the traditional salute when we are both Q, and it is well known that I am here as a proxy for my much older self. Obviously peace and long life will be ours."

"That is true Mr. Ambassador. But I think that the traditional greeting is just that. Traditional."

"In that case, Live Long and Prosper, Merlin," Spock returned, and stepped back to let Merlin have the stage again.

Merlin announced to the crowd, "I am going to leave Doctor Jackson to be our representative to the people coming, and Jade O'Neill and Nefreyu will act as our ambassadors. They are capable, and will be able to handle the negotiations better than anyone else. The three have my full support and trust." There was general applause and cheering as Merlin explained who would meet with the Federation and Jackson was gratified to know that he had the support of the population in general.

_Meeting with the Federation…_

Thor was on the bridge of the _O'Neill_ when two ships dropped out of warp. They were of a fascinating design, and looked nothing like the ships surrounding his. Merlin had told him that the Iconians would be limited to warp speed now, and that one of the ways in which the people they were meeting with could help was in helping with getting warp drives running.

Thor contacted Scotty and Geordie and asked them to transport to his ship. A gateway opened near him, and the two walked through.

They looked at the approaching ships and both of them were absolutely shocked. Scotty turned to Geordie and said in a nostalgic voice, "Now there's a coupla lasses I never expected to see again."

Geordie grinned. "I can't wait to get my hands dirty on her warp core!"

Thor looked from one to the other. "Am I to understand that you know these ships?"

"Know them?" LaForge asked, incredulous.

"Laddie," Scotty supplied, "you're looking at two of the first ships we were chief engineers on."

"Of course it's been one or two years since we worked on them," Geordie added.

All of the sudden, a voice came through the bridge speakers. "To the unidentified fleet: This is Admiral James T. Kirk, of the United Federation of Planets vessel, _Enterprise-A_. Your fleet is currently in space that is considered to belong to the Federation. We request that you state your intentions."

Thor looked around at those present. "James T. Kirk? Is he really 'the Commander'?"

Scotty nodded. "Aye, Lad. But at this point in his life, he's never met you. He's Commander, Starfleet right now."

"Is he Q?"

"I wouldna be the one to ask. I'm not Q. I think Doctor Jackson would be the lad to talk to about that"

Thor agreed. He signaled for Jackson to join them on the _O'Neill_ and in a few moments, he flashed into being beside the Asgard.

_On Enterprise-D_

Picard looked out at the ships surrounding them. They were approaching a vessel that had similar lines to those of a Klingon vessel, but much cleaner. He was looking at the different ships. Some looked very extravagant: giant cities in space. Others were small one and two man fighters. He was marvelling at the sheer number, when a familiar flash of light appeared beside him.

"Mon Capitan! So wonderful to see you today!" Q said exuberantly.

"Q!" Picard spat out the word. "Why are you here this time?"

"Why just to see you off on what will be a glorious journey."

"What is so glorious about it?"

"It will be the last time I bother you, of course."

"Really? That does sound glorious," Riker said from behind them.

Q turned and put his hands over his heart, "You wound me, Riker. This is an historic moment in human history. You are going to meet your betters, Riker." His voice lost it's exuberance and became serious, eerily reminding the bridge crew of Picard when he was giving commands. "These people in their ships, surrounding you, could blow _Enterprise_ out of space with just a simple flip of a switch or push of a button. In some cases, by moving a rock. You would do well to remember that when you speak to them. They are the 'demons of air and darkness'. The Iconians. Gaze at them and see your fate." His voice lost it's edge, and took on a lighthearted tone. "But do not fear! If you treat them the way you should, you could count them as friend rather than foe."

With that, Q was gone. Riker looked at Picard and raised his eyebrows. Picard however was staring out at the Fleet surrounding them in wonder. His love of Archeology was rearing its head and he was studying the fleet as an archeologist rather than a Starfleet Commodore.

"Hail the _A_." he ordered.

"Commodore," Kirk said when he appeared on the viewscreen.

"Sir, we have just had a visit from Q."

"What happened?" Kirk asked.

"He told us that these people are the Iconians," Picard said wonderingly.

"The Iconians? I thought they disappeared over three hundred thousand years ago."

"Yes sir. And if Q was telling the truth, we may now know what happened to them."

"I see. Commodore, I have just been contacted by Supreme Commander Thor and High Chancellor Jackson. They are ready to beam over and meet with us. We will meet in your briefing room."

The viewscreen went dark and Picard turned to Riker. "Let's meet the Iconians, Number One."

_The Briefing..._

The meeting took place in the _Enterprise-D's_ conference room just off the bridge. Seated at the head of the table was Commodore Picard, and on his left side was Commander Riker, and the _D's _tactical officer, Battle Captain Martok. On Picard's right was Admiral Kirk, Ambassador Spock and _Enterprise-A's_ chief medical officer, who was also head of Starfleet Medical, Doctor Leonard McCoy. At the other end of the table was Daniel Jackson, Thor, Jack Carter and Jack O'Neill.

Carter was watching Picard closely. He knew that at this point in time, Picard was not Q, however, the Commander, Admiral Kirk, was. He found it fascinating that the man at the table, his grandfather, had no inkling that later in his life, he would become one of the most famous, not to mention, most powerful men in history.

Jackson took the lead. "Gentlemen. I would like to thank you for meeting with us today. My people, have been fighting a war with a very formidable opponent. We have won this war, but winning has left us virtually defenseless. I understand that this is considered Federation space and although it used to be Iconian space, I will not dispute your claim to it. Our wish is to find our home and settle ourselves there."

"Your home?" Kirk asked.

"Admiral, you have to understand where, and when we came from. The final battle of our war propelled us three hundred thousand years into our future. Your present. This space surrounding us was our home in the past. We had built a dyson sphere in which we were going to settle. It is very near to this location. We simply want to settle in that."

Ambassador Spock asked, "How did your final battle send you so far into the future?"

Jackson did not answer immediately. He looked at Kirk and reached out with his mind. He found that Kirk was, indeed, Q, although none of the others at the table were as of yet. "Ambassador," he said to Spock. "My reason would be hard for you to believe." He turned to Kirk. "Admiral. If you search your mind, I believe you will find that I am being truthful."

Kirk remembered, years before, when he had met Zeus on the Guardian Planet. He understood that these people were the ones Zeus had been speaking of. He also understood that he was Q and that three of the people sitting across from him were as well. Slowly, he nodded his head.

"Jack Carter, Jack O'Neill, and myself are all of a race called Q." At this, Picard, Riker, and Martok all tensed. The movement wasn't lost on Jackson. "I understand you have had some rather, less than amicable meetings with the Q. One Q in particular. I assure you, Commodore Picard. We are not all like him."

"I have trouble believing that," Martok said, belligerently.

"So do I," Riker said, looking at Picard.

"Agreed," Picard said. He turned to Kirk, "Admiral. If these people are indeed of that race, I doubt very much that they can be trusted."

Kirk nodded, but said, "Relax, Picard." His great-grandson turned a look of absolute disbelief on him. "I understand what you are saying, but it's our duty to hear them out."

Spock looked perplexed as well. "Admiral, while I agree with you in principle, I must agree with the Commodore. From our dealings with the Q in the past, they cannot be trusted."

"Gentlemen, you're basing your ideas of the Q on your dealings with one individual," Jackson argued. "You know that we could simply disappear with our entire fleet, and you'd never even know where we went. But the fact is, we won't do that." Carter held up his hand to Jackson. "Go ahead," Daniel said to him.

"Gentlemen," Carter said, "I know the Q you are thinking of. He's arrogant, undisciplined, and basically, a real jerk."

"He was," O'Neill said.

"Yeah," Carter agreed. "But he spent around a hundred and fifty years in discipline for his past actions and he's changed now. No matter what he told you, the Q as a group do not condone how he treated you."

"Well, I don't know how he could have gone through a hundred fifty years discipline. We dealt with Q just a few months ago, and in fact, saw him right before you beamed over," Riker said.

"Time sort of flows backwards and forwards, sometimes even at the same time, for the Q," O'Neill said. He looked at Jackson, who was shaking his head at his statement. "Well it does!" he asserted.

"Yes," Jackson said, "It does. Gentlemen, I assure you that Janus, the Q you have dealt with, is a changed person now."

The starfleet people considered at length. Kirk knew he could simply order them to back down, but that would accomplish nothing. They had to believe on their own.

"I am willing to move forward with the understanding that we may pull out of these negotiations at any time, and for any reason," Picard finally said carefully.

Riker nodded, and Spock said, "It is logical that we cannot base our actions concerning Q on one individual. I am willing to move ahead with the negotiations on the stipulation Commodore Picard has made."

Jackson looked at Kirk who shrugged his shoulders. "I think that's the best you'll get for now, Chancellor Jackson. I suggest you take it."

"As the one Iconian here who is not of the Q, I would like to say you are making a good decision," Thor said. "The Iconians who are Q have helped the rest of us immensely."

"If I may ask, how many of the Q are there in the Iconian Alliance?" Picard asked.

"All of them," O'Neill said matter of factly.

Picard grimaced, then pressed, "And how many is that?"

Jackson looked toward the ceiling for a moment, then said, "I believe the number is six hundred seventy-three."

"Six hundred seventy-four," Carter corrected.

Jackson glanced at him and said, "No. Seventy three. Remember? We recently found out that Tempest is actually Becca, so don't count her twice."

O'Neill raised a finger as if he was going to argue, then said. "That's right."

Kirk was watching bemused. While he was Q, and had met several from the continuum, this was the first time he had met these three, although he could sense that they were fully aware of his status.

Picard was surprised. "You're telling me that the total number of individuals in the Q continuum is only six hundred seventy-three?"

"Yes," O'Neill said, "that's what we're saying."

Picard glanced dubiously at Riker and Martok, both of whom shared the same look. "How many people are in the Iconian Alliance?"

"Roughly two point three billion people," Jackson answered. "So the Q aren't anywhere near the deciding vote for them."

"What does that matter?" Picard asked. "There is no way you can convince me that the Q are not capable of ruling your Alliance, by force if by no other means."

"I'm not even trying to convince you of that, Commodore," Jackson said. "Of course we're able to, but the fact is, we don't. Again, you are judging all of us by your knowledge of one man, and if you think about it, you'll agree that it's not a fair judge. What's more, Janus himself is not the same man you are thinking of. He was instrumental in saving millions of Iconians in the war they have just fought."

Picard leaned back in his chair. "Now I'm curious, Chancellor Jackson, why you would separate yourself from the rest of the Iconians in that statement."

It was not Jackson who answered, however. It was Thor. "Commodore Picard, you must realize that for the non Q of Iconia, the war just happened, less than three days ago. Not so for the Q"

"Well, ten of the Q anyway," Carter amended. "The Q who were at the final battle with the Doci had to take the long way to this time period."

"I don't understand," Riker commented.

"The rest of our people were thrown forward three hundred thousand years while we had to wait it out," O'Neill explained.

"Why couldn't you just transport yourself to now?" Riker asked, curious now.

"The battle that ended with the vast majority of our population being thrown to the present, temporarily ended the Q ability to 'flash' to another time or place," Thor explained.

"Yes," Jackson agreed, "we've only re-acquired the ability in the last five years. If I understand your method of timekeeping, it would have been stardate 41153.6 when we were finally able to use our powers with anything close to our previous ability."

"41153.6? Number one, what was the date of our first meeting with Q?"

Riker consulted his computer terminal. "41153.7. He didn't waste any time, did he?"

"Like he was just waiting to judge humanity," Picard observed.

Carter and O'Neill glanced at each other, but refrained from saying anything. Jackson gently steered the conversation back to the possibility of building an alliance. "While Janus tried to judge humanity with the Farpoint incident, we would like to make a treaty with you, both to use this area of space, and for trade."

"Before we can get down to that type of agreement," Spock noted, "It would be advantageous to discuss what each side has to offer."

"Yes," Jackson said. "If we are to pursue this, I would like to introduce you to our ambassadorial team. They will be much better able to negotiate a treaty with you than I am."

"That would be appreciated," Spock said gravely.

Jackson nodded, then he sat motionless for a moment, staring out the window at the stars and ships. When he looked back at Spock, he said, "They will be here in a moment. One is Q. The other isn't, so she will bring him with her."

In a moment, two people flashed into being behind Kirk. She was a tall, blonde woman, and he was a rather small man with light, messy hair which looked like it contained moss.

Jackson stood. "This is Jade O'Neill," he said indicating the woman, "and this is Nefreyu, of the Nox." Both shook hands with the Starfleet officers until they got to Spock.

"Ambassador Spock," Jade said looking at the Vulcan. "It is an honor to meet you."

"The honor is mine, Ambassador O'Neill. Are you related to General O'Neill?"

She inclined her head. "He is my father, Mr. Ambassador."

Spock inclined his head in answer, then turned to Nefreyu. "Ambassador," he said.

Nefreyu regarded Spock curiously, then raised his hand in the traditional Vulcan salute. "Live long and prosper, Ambassador Spock."

Spock's eyebrow rose as he wondered how a non Q had such an intimate knowledge of Vulcans. He returned the salute, however without hesitation. "Peace and long life, Ambassador Nefreyu."

The fact that the Nox ambassador knew the Vulcan salute was not lost on Picard either. He was wondering about it when he noticed a small smile playing across the lips of Jade O'Neill. He was considering the significance of that, as the seating at the table was rearranged to allow Spock to sit across the table from the Iconian delegates.

Martok and Riker left the table to resume their posts, with Riker in command of _D_. McCoy returned to _A_ and O'Neill and Carter flashed out of the room taking Thor with them.

Jackson gazed at Picard for a long moment once the others had left the room. "Commodore," he said, "I very much understand your reluctance to deal with Q, and to even consider that we might not all be like Janus. I would like to ease your mind, even if just a small amount. You may think that all Q were born with their powers." At Picard's nod, he continued. "That's not the case. Most Q were born exactly like you. Janus is one of the few that wasn't." Picard looked somewhat startled, and Jackson continued. "Because we were born, like you, human, we can alter our methods. We will, for the duration of this conference, not use our powers at all."

"Chancellor," Picard said, "you indicated that Nefreyu was not Q, however he greeted Ambassador Spock with the Vulcan salute. Have the Nox met vulcans before?"

"I have knowledge of Vulcans, Commodore," Nefreyu answered for himself. "We have met in the past."

Picard looked for any confirmation in Spock's eyes, but the Vulcan was being completely unreadable.

Spock was watching the Nox intently, but nothing more was said about having met Vulcans in the past. He finally nodded, accepting the statement. "Very well," he said. "I would also like to thank you for your pledge to not use your powers during the course of this conference. Such use could affect the outcome of the negotiations, and your pledge will assure that such a manipulation does not occur."

Picard privately wondered how the Federation people would know if the Q had used their powers, but he had acted as an ambassador many times himself, and recognized that Spock had just started the negotiations. He would do nothing to undermine the Vulcan's position.

First, the Iconians explained their political situation, even explaining that their Chancellor was the wizard, Merlin, a Q, and that Daniel Jackson was, in actuality, the Vice Chancellor. Picard was surprised that Merlin would be unable, or unwilling, to put in a personal appearance at the negotiations. He suspected that the Federation was simply beneath the wizard's concerns. He chastised himself for thinking this way after a moment, however. He realized that if what the Iconians were saying was true, then their leader, Merlin, would very likely be making sure that his people were safe. It was what Picard would have done had he been in the same position.

Nefreyu explained that the Nox had supplied a virus to the humans in their midst that countered the effects of biological warfare. This had increased human lifespans and strength to three times their normal values.

Ambassador Spock told the Iconians that an augment virus had been unleashed on Earth that had a similar effect. Years before, Admiral Marcus, in response to an offshoot of humanity that had five times the strength and intelligence of normal humans, had released an augment virus on Earth. It had infected all humans, giving them the strength of Vulcanoids and Klingons. The augments Admiral Marcus claimed to be protecting Earth from, still had greater strength and intelligence than the rest of the population, but by limiting the virus, Marcus had limited the superior ambition of the augmented human race. Unfortunately, he had died before anyone had figured out what he had done, or why he had done it.

Spock explained that more parallels were plainly visible between the Federation and the Iconians. The Federation was a melting pot of many races, but some had even blended their races together.

For example, after the destruction of the Klingon economy when their moon, Praxis, exploded, the race needed to relocate. They chose to build a colony on New Vulcan, and eventually, the Vulcans and Klingons began to intermarry. Very few pure Klingons or Vulcans existed now. The Federation had struggled with war very early in it's lifetime, even so far as individuals like Colonel Green trying to purify the population of Earth. Or Vulcan trying to accomplish the same thing. Now, however, such ideologies were almost unheard of.

By drawing parallels between the Federation and Iconians, Spock was able to create grounds for an alliance between the Federation and the Iconians.


	3. Chapter 3

_Standard Disclaimer: We, the authors, do not own any of the franchises referenced in the following tale. We're just fans. Please Review so we know if you like this continuing saga..._

**_Chapter 3_**

Sarah had sat through the millennia, keeping an eye out for her people. She hadn't been alone, however. The First, Commander, Merlin, Jack and Samantha O'Neill, Jack Carter, Eric Marten, Teal'c, Daniel Jackson, and Janus had spent the intervening three hundred thousand years on board the remains of the Dyson Sphere as she rebuilt it. But they weren't the only ones present. In her own memory banks, were three more people. Eli Wallace had allowed himself to be transferred to the sphere from the Altair shipyard's computers. In him were copies of Gin and Amanda Perry, both of which Eli released from his own memory, to live as individual entities in Sarah's computer core.

When the Q had been able to again travel through time and space with their wills, she had watched, amused as Teal'c went back in time. He had become one of the four most powerful Q in existence, along with the First, Merlin, and Jade O'Neill. Consequently, when he found that he could again bend time and space to his will, he left for a few moments. Right before his return, Sarah observed an aquarium flash into being in his quarters. Then, water and some fish flashed into the tank, followed by what appeared to be a finned eel.

Teal'c flashed into the room soon after and began talking to the eel. After a couple of hours, there was a knock on the door, and the Jaffa admitted Jack O'Neill into the room. Jack observed Teal'c, apparently feeding some goldfish in a large aquarium. Then he noticed a dark form, swimming in the depths of the tank.

"What's that?" O'Neill asked.

"It is my new pet, O'Neill."

"That's a Goa'uld, Teal'c!"

"Precisely, O'Neill. It is, in fact Apophis. I returned to the last moments of his life and brought him to the present with me. I used my powers to heal the symbiote's body right before it would have died. He will live for quite some time now, but he will never be in a host body again."

Jack thought about the poetic justice of the situation, and finally nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me, Teal'c," he said as he looked at the creature. It stuck it's head out of the aquarium, and Jack was afraid it would try to jump into him, but it seemed unable to. It contented itself with hissing at him, however. Jack knew that the "would-be" god recognized him, and the knowledge made him happy.

A moment later, there came another knock on the door and Teal'c admitted the First.

"What are you doing with the Goa'uld, Teal'c," he asked.

Teal'c drew himself up and said, "Apophis was never tried or convicted for his crimes against the Terrans or Jaffa."

"I understand, Teal'c, but we cannot arbitrarily punish one such as him without a trial."

"That is true, First," Teal'c said, inclining his head. "However, those of us who are here and would give him a trial would most certainly convict him, probably to death. This way, he does not die, nor does he lose the slim hope he has of one day being free again, however unlikely that may be. He is enduring no physical discomfort at all. I am making sure that he has everything a free-swimming Goa'uld will need. In fact, the only thing he is lacking, is a host."

The First thought about the situation, and found that he could not argue with the logic of Teal'c. Finally, he raised an eyebrow and nodded. "You are, of course, correct, Teal'c. I leave Apophis in your capable hands," and he left the room.

"Yes!" O'Neill exclaimed as the First left the room. Jack gazed at the Goa'uld for a long moment, then he addressed it. "It's very nice to see that you are getting what's owed to you. I can't think of anyone more appropriate to take care of you."

Sarah had watched the Q as they prepared for their friends and families to arrive from the past. She was looking forward to the moment as well, as Andy would be with them. She had missed him terribly over the last three hundred thousand years.

When the time came, she was somewhat surprised at by the fact that she had located them.

_At the fleet…_

Spock and the Iconian Ambassadors had been at the negotiating table for two days now. They had ironed out many parts of the treaty, and it had been one of the easiest negotiations that Spock had ever been part of. Kirk, Picard, and Jackson had agreed with the way in which the treaty was headed as well.

In fact, the treaty was almost completed when several ships dropped out of warp near the fleet.

"_Bridge to Commodore Picard_," came the voice of Battle Captain Martok.

Picard looked at Kirk with a surprised look on his face. "Picard here."

"_Several unidentified ships have just appeared at the edge of the Iconian fleet._"

"Those are our tug ships. It appears that the ships have arrived from Sarah to tow us to the sphere, since our hyperdrives are not working," Jackson informed them.

"Captain Martok, please stand by," Picard said. He then turned to Jackson. "Explain."

"The Artificial Intelligence aboard our Dyson Sphere is named SARAH. She was waiting with the Q for the rest of our fleet to arrive. We weren't sure where it would emerge from subspace, so we couldn't send out our tugs until it had. You have my apologies that I did not inform you of this until now."

Picard levelled his gaze at Jackson, and maintained eye contact while he tapped his com badge. "Picard to Captain Martok. Apparently the Iconians were expecting these ships."

"You don't trust me at all, do you Commodore?" Jackson observed.

"Chancellor Jackson, if you know what we've been through with Q, or Janus as you call him, then you should understand why I find it difficult to trust anyone who is Q."

Jackson nodded. "I can certainly understand that."

"I agree," Picard continued, "that to judge you all based on one, Janus in particular, is unfair. You have to understand that my distrust of the continuum runs very deep because of him, but I'm willing to judge you on your own terms rather than on his."

"Thank you, Commodore, I know we all will appreciate that."

"_Bridge to Commodore Picard_," Martok's voice came again.

"Perhaps it would be best to recess for awhile," said Nefreyu as Picard responded to the Battle Captain.

"I would say that is an accurate assessment, Ambassador," Spock replied.

Picard stood when he saw that the negotiations were suspended. "If you'll excuse me," he said as he started to the door.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you, Commodore?" Jackson asked.

"Not at all, Chancellor," Picard answered.

The two stepped onto the bridge and Picard ordered, "Play the message on speaker."

"_Welcome, Iconians. I have been waiting a long time for you to arrive_," a feminine voice came out of the bridge speakers. It was just a bit too enthusiastic to be real. "_I have repaired the damage to the sphere, and have built and dispatched these tugs to assist you, knowing that your hyperdrives will not function properly_," the voice continued. "_Please allow them to tow you to the sphere. The voyage should take just slightly more than one Terran day_."

Picard turned to Jackson. "Will we be able to accompany you?"

"Actually, yes," Jackson answered. "I don't think there will be enough tugs to go around. It will probably take more than just one trip."

"In that case, we can probably tow a couple of your ships as well."

"That would be appreciated, Commodore."

Picard regarded Jackson inquiringly for a few moments. "If I may ask, why don't you simply snap your fingers and take your fleet there?"

"And ruin Sarah's opportunity to rescue us?" Jackson chuckled. "Commodore, she'd never forgive us for that. Also, our people are not all Q, as we've said. They'll need to know that hyperdrive doesn't work now, and that warp drive, while effective, is much slower."

Riker was listening and asked, "With all your power, you don't have something faster than warp drive?"

"Of course we do. I can snap my fingers and be on the other side of the universe, Riker, but as I said, most of our people aren't Q. We also have our gate travel, but that works only for individuals and very small ships. We can't take our larger vessels through one of them. We have built a couple of supergates, but there's only one of those per galaxy." He thought a moment, then said, "we might have to up that a bit, even with slipstream or transwarp drive."

Picard turned to Kirk, who had joined them on the bridge. "Admiral," he said, "don't you think it would be in the interests of our treaty to help tow ships to the Iconian home?"

"Sure," Kirk answered, "I think that would be a great idea."

"The ship you are facing is the _O'Neill,_ Commodore," Jade offered. "It is commanded by Supreme Commander Thor."

"Thank you," Picard said, wondering about the relationship between the Ambassador's name and this huge vessel. "Hail the _O'Neill_."

Thor's image appeared on the screen. "Supreme Commander Thor, may I offer the assistance of _Enterprise-D_ in towing you to the sphere?"

"I appreciate the offer, Commodore, however there are many ships which will have to remain here until the tugs can return, as we do not have enough tugs to take them in one trip. These ships are unarmed, and this is unknown space to us. I do not feel comfortable leaving them without guard."

Kirk stepped forward. "Jean Luc, I think it would be beneficial for _Enterprise-D_ to be here as well. The Iconian ships aren't known among the people of this quadrant, but our ships are. Our presence here should lend some validity to them."

"Agreed. If you have no objections, Supreme Commander, I will remain on station as well."

"No objections at all, Commodore. I will enjoy the company."

_A few hours later…_

Thor and Picard stood on the bridge of the _O'Neill_ and watched the tugs with their charges stretch into subspace. They stood for some moments, looking at the stars in the direction the tugs had gone.

_A_ had gone as an escort as well, and had been pulling a ha'tak, the pyramid ship dwarfing the Federation flagship. The _Enterprise-A_ had shown her strength, however, as she accelerated into warp speed as smooth as if she had not been towing anything behind her. _A's_ helm officer was Demora Sulu, and she had inherited her father's starship driving abilities.

Finally, Thor turned to his guest. "I am sorry, Picard. I forget my manners. Would you like a tour of the _O'Neill_?"

"I would be honored, Sir," Picard said. Thor stood at least three inches taller than him, and the Commodore was struck at how much the Asgard looked like his great-great grandfather, George Kirk.

Thor inclined his head, "This way then." He turned with Picard at his side, and they left the bridge.

After they had toured the engine room, they entered Thor's quarters for a drink. They were comfortable rooms, and had many momentos from the Asgard's long life. There was a glass case on one side of the room, and in it were models of several vessels. Picard realized that they must represent the ships commanded by this imposing figure. What struck Picard most, however, was hanging on the wall. He walked up to it, his mouth hanging open. It was a weapon, a sword, with three handgrips along the back, and a wickedly curved, razor sharp blade at each end. Protruding at an angle, in between the handgrips and either curved blade, was a smaller, straight blade, just as sharp as the larger ones.

The weapon was obviously ancient, and the leather of the handgrips, while well cared for, was timeworn. The metal, however, gleamed as though it had been polished that morning. The entire length of the sword was sharpened to a fine edge, and Picard could well imagine the finesse with which this weapon would be used. In fact, he had seen it many times. Near the center handgrip was a bit of discoloration, and a small amount of pitting. It had been polished out as much as possible, but nothing could entirely remove it.

"That sword was handed down to me through millennia of ancestors," Thor said from behind them.

"Your ancestors?" Picard exclaimed, surprised.

"We don't know very much about them," Thor explained. "Just that they were a race of warriors."

"I see," Picard said. "Supreme Commander, would you mind if I brought someone over here to see this? He would be extremely interested in this weapon. "

"Not at all," Thor responded.

Picard tapped his comm badge. "Picard to _Enterprise-D._"

A few minutes later, Commander Worf, Martok's Battle XO was escorted into the room by Jack O'Neill.

"Commander Worf, General O'Neill," Picard said. "Mr. Worf, I wonder if you will look at…" His voice trailed off. Worf was staring transfixed at the sword on the wall.

"Where did you get this?" he asked Thor, stepping toward the wall, transfixed.

"It is a _may' 'etlh_, handed down from my ancestors. It belonged to one of them. I am not sure of the exact generation." He looked curiously at Worf. "Why?"

Worf didn't respond immediately. He reached a tentative hand toward the sword. "_"May' 'etlh_. Battle Sword. Fitting. May I?" he asked the Asgard.

Thor nodded, and Worf respectfully lifted the ancient weapon off the wall. He hefted it, and checked it's balance. Then, he stepped to the middle of the room. Picard backed up as the Klingon held the sword expertly. He motioned O'Neill and Thor back as well as Worf put the weapon through it's motions. "We call it a Bat'leth," Worf said. "I am curious what you know about it."

"Very little, I'm afraid. We had a few _may' 'etlh_ left, but in the war with the replicators, the rest were lost. This is the only remaining one left to my knowledge."

"Replicators?" Worf asked, automatically thinking of the food dispensers on _Enterprise-D_.

"Tiny bug things," O'Neill supplied. "They eat metal and turn it into… more tiny bug things."

Picard smiled at that. "They sound like nanites," he said. "In the Federation, the word replicator, refers to machines used to repattern matter into a more useable form. For example, we do not store perishable food items on board _Enterprise_. We use matter resequencers to make whatever food stuff we need on the ship, as long as the pattern is stored in the computer, a person can have whatever they desire to eat."

Thor inclined his head slightly. "We have a similar device which we call a matter resequencer."

"A practical name," Worf commented, still gazing at the ancient Bat'leth.

Worf accompanied Picard on the rest of the tour, approving of the design of the _O'Neill._ The ship was designed to fight. Thor explained that the first _O'Neill_, had been lost to the replicators in battle. This was, in effect, the _O'Neill-A_, and there were many improvements upon the original design that this ship reflected.

Thor's previous vessel, the _Daniel Jackson_, was commanded by his protege, Eli Wallace, and had accompanied the rest of the fleet to the sphere.

"Eli Wallace sounds like a human name," Picard observed.

"Yes," Thor said. "Eli Wallace is a great friend of mine. While I am a warrior, there is also a side of me that is a scientist." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "General O'Neill, and the rest of his team are great friends. In many ways, they are my heroes. I have fought beside them, and they have saved my life many times over."

"You've saved our butts more times than I can count too, Buddy," O'Neill observed.

Thor nodded and smiled. "I suppose that is true, O'Neill," he allowed. "What I was going to say, however, is that while Samantha O'Neill is a gifted scientist, and military strategist, Dr. Wallace is strictly a scientist. In some ways, the scientific side of me finds that to be a refreshing change sometimes." He paused for a moment. "I truly enjoy the time I spend with Dr. Wallace for that reason."

"Daniel is strictly a scientist," O'Neill observed.

"While that is true," Thor said, "Daniel does understand the necessity for weapons, and will not hesitate to use them if need be. Eli will almost never resort to weapons, and I find that fascinating." He sighed, then said. "Sometimes I wish I could understand that way of thinking better."

"I think we all do, Supreme Commander," Picard said. The expression on Worf's face, clearly showed that he did not understand Thor's wish, but he refrained from saying it.

The expression wasn't missed by Thor, however. "As you can see by my, how did you say, Bat'leth, Commander Worf, I am a warrior at heart. I'm not ready to beat my swords into plowshares just yet."

"Or your spears into pruninghooks?" Worf asked.

"Commander Worf," Picard said, clearly surprised. "I had no idea you were up on Jewish history."

"I was raised by Russian parents, Commodore."

"I see. The Russian Orthodox Church has roots in Judaism. You would have studied Russian history as a child," Picard said.

"I did," Worf confirmed. He turned to Thor, "You said that your ancestors were warriors. It is believed among my people that the first Bat'leth was made by Kahless. I have always believed that, but is it possible that we have a common ancestor that both our races are from?"

Thor smiled at the Klingon. "I don't know, Worf, but I'd like to learn more about your race. If we don't have a common ancestor, and if you'd seen me thirty years ago, you wouldn't think we did, I think we have much in common in ideologies."

"I too, would like to learn more of your people."

Thor and Jack and Samantha O'Neill were joined by Jack Carter and his wife, Allison, as well as Daniel Jackson and his wife, Vala in beaming to _Enterprise-D_ with Picard and Worf and they received a tour, then joined Picard and his senior staff for dinner.

Over dinner Picard explained his love of archeology, and how he had spent many happy hours studying everything he could find on the Iconian Empire.

"Empire?" Jackson asked. "What empire, Commodore? We never had an empire at all. The Iconians were and are an alliance between our member races."

"I have no doubt, " Picard said, "that the history books will need some rewriting by the end of this day, Chancellor Jackson. I can only tell you that I am thrilled to be present for such an occasion."

_At the sphere..._

Kirk watched as the _A_ exited subspace and drew to a relative stop to a cloud of gas and debris. He turned to Spock who bent over his work station. "Scanning, " the Vulcan said. "Indications are that this nebula extends for approximately twenty-five AUs. It is comprised of several gases, as well as a large number of asteroids ranging from dust size to several hundred meters in diameter." He turned to Kirk. "There is very little of interest here."

"Thank you Spock, he said as they followed the Iconian fleet into the cloud. They were able to move forward at very high sunlight speed as asteroids the size of apartment buildings were moved out of their way by bluish energy beams directed from somewhere ahead.

"Some kind of tractor and repulser beams," Spock supplied unnecessarily.

Kirk just watched, spellbound as the largest structure he had ever seen slowly became visible through the dust and debris. As they drew closer, an apature opened and the Iconian fleet started filing through. At the same time, a signal was received by Uhura, _A's_ chief communications officer. "Incoming message, Sir," she said.

Kirk just nodded, and she put it on speaker. "_Welcome, Enterprise. Admiral Kirk, I am Sarah. I thank you for bringing my people here, and invite you to enter. There is nothing to fear, as I will not harm you, and you will be free to leave whenever you desire."_

"Tie me in, Uhura," Kirk ordered. "Thank you, Sarah. We would be pleased to enter. May we activate our scanners as we do?"

"_Certainly_," came the reply. "_If Merlin has no objections, I would be pleased to conduct you on a tour of some of my facilities as well_. _On your arrival inside my shell, please transport yourself, Ambassador Spock and Dr. McCoy to the coordinates I will send to your transporter room. You are most welcome to scan those coordinates thoroughly before transporting._"

Kirk thanked her then turned to Spock when Uhura signified that the connection was closed. "Analysis, Spock?"

One of Spock's eyebrows had been lifted for most of the conversation, and showed no sign of lowering as he spoke. "A most sophisticated artificial intelligence. I would be most interested in studying her computer systems. While the Federation's computer technology is quite advanced, Sarah seems able to anticipate what your objections would be, and countered them before you even voiced them."

"Or," came McCoy's voice from the door, "someone is telling her what to say, because they anticipate our objections."

"That is a distinct possibility," Spock agreed.

"You aren't actually thinking of going over there, are you?" McCoy asked.

"Bones," Kirk said, reasonably, "they've had us under their guns for quite a while now, and they haven't taken any potshots. I think it's reasonable to assume that if Thor had wanted to blow us up, he could have. Why would they wait until we're here?"

McCoy looked at the viewscreen and the surface of Sarah that filled it. "Intimidation."

Uhura had stepped away from her console, and was nervously fingering her earpiece in her hands. "They would know that we're transferring all that we see to Starfleet."

Spock looked at her, his features softening. "Nyota," he said, "They are Q. Nothing more is required to intimidate me."

"Regardless of anything else," Demora Sulu said from the helm, "We're entering the sphere now."

The four snapped their attention back to the screen as they flew through the opening, still towing the Ha'tak. The aperture opened into a miles long tunnel. Spock turned to his science console and informed them all that the walls were made of neutronium. The ship shot through the other end of the tunnel and Demora swung it into orbit of the star at the center of the sphere.

Bra'tac, the commander of the Ha'tak they were towing contacted, them and thanked them. "You may release us at any time, Kirk."

Kirk turned to Scotty, who had just walked onto the bridge. "Mr. Scott, would you be so kind as to release Master Bra'tac's Ha'tak?"

"Aye, Sir," the engineer replied. Demora took the initiative to split the screen so it showed Bra'tac on one side and a reverse view of the Ha'tak. The blue energy beam disengaged, and the Ha'tak started to drift on it's own.

The man on the other side of the screen smiled. "Thank you again, Kirk. I look forward to meeting you in person."

He switched off, and Uhura reported, "The transporter room reports that they have the coordinates from Sarah."

Scotty turned sharply to look at Kirk. "I dinna like it, Admiral. You're not just the commander of this ship, but Commander, Starfleet. Ye shouldna be risking yourself this way."

"That's what I think, Scotty, but our commander doesn't seem to be able to quit risking his life."

Kirk quickly covered his mouth with his hand to keep from showing the smile there, as Spock interjected, "Gentlemen, I do not need to point out that we could have been destroyed at any time during the last day. On the trip here, we were incredibly outnumbered by ships as powerfully armed as our own. There is no need to invite the Admiral aboard just to kill him."

"Or us!" McCoy groused. He then turned to the doors. "Let's go before I change my mind."

Kirk was immediately on his feet. "Coming, Spock?"

The Vulcan followed somewhat more sedately.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: We do not own any of the franchises mentioned in this story but do enjoy writing about them. Please review!_

_**Chapter 4**_

They arrived in an area of the sphere that was lush farmland, not unlike the area on Earth in which Kirk had grown up. All around were corn fields, and in the distance, Kirk saw what could only be a barn, complete with red paint. The only odd thing was the horizon. Instead of dropping off after a few miles, it went on and on until it eventually came to some mountains in the distance, but he could see beyond them, and there appeared to be an endless sea on the other side. It was disorienting.

Finally, Kirk focused on the people facing them. Even though they were about twenty feet away. He recognized them, and that was also disturbing.

"Jean Luc," he said. It was definitely Jean Luc Picard, standing beside his auburn haired doctor, Beverly Crusher, and another man that, while Kirk had never met him, he recognized him immediately from records of the _Enterprise-D_ as Q.

"That is a name I haven't gone by in a long time," his great-grandson said. "I actually go more by Merlin, now."

Kirk nodded, but McCoy seemed confused. Spock was paying close attention to what was being said.

"I understand, Merlin," Kirk said, trying the name out for himself. "It just doesn't seem to fit you."

"Oh, you get used to it," Q said.

Kirk's expression tried to turn sour, and he struggled to keep it neutral. "You are Janus, correct?"

"Guilty as charged," Q confirmed. "However, I must point out that I'm a bit older than when I used to pester Merlin here."

Finally, it was too much for McCoy. "What is going on here? How are Picard and Crusher on this sphere?"

"Sarah?" Merlin requested. "Would you please transport us to the Camelot conference room?"

In response, all six people dematerialized from the corn field. They rematerialized in a conference room, of similar design to the one on board _Enterprise-D_.

"Please be seated," Merlin invited. When they had all taken chairs, he began. "You, of course recognize that I am Jean Luc Picard, or rather, long ago, I was Jean Luc Picard, just as my wife, Che Ryl, was Beverly Crusher. We have invited you three here today, because you will understand the necessity of keeping our existence on the sphere a secret."

He looked at Janus, who nodded solemnly. When he looked back at Kirk, his expression was one of determination. "Admiral, you of all people know that what I'm saying is the truth. You feel it."

"Yes," Kirk said flashing a look at McCoy which said not to challenge him.

McCoy ignored the look, as Kirk knew he would. "Shall we call Valhalla and book a room?" he asked.

"Actually," Janus said, "The _Valhalla_ is full, and still out with Picard and Thor."

Che Ryl ried to stifle a laugh. "The Valhalla is a ship carrying refugees," she explained. McCoy just glared.

"Merlin," Spock said, "When you say 'long ago you were Jean Luc Picard,' how long ago do you mean?"

The wizard smiled, and answered. "Before the three hundred millennia I just lived through, waiting for our people to arrive, I was well over fifty million years old."

"So you have been living in the past. How much have you changed what was supposed to occur?"

"Ambassador Spock, I give you my word that nothing that was supposed to happen has changed. The Q who became Alterans and later Iconians, have been very careful in this regard."

Che Ryl explained further, "Those of us who were in Starfleet have followed the Prime Directive all these years, Spock. And the First has established a temporal prime directive. We change nothing. We allow time to continue the way it was supposed to, which is hard to do sometimes, but we do what we must."

"The First?" Kirk asked, already knowing the answer, but knowing that his friends did not.

"The First Q. In time, you will meet him," Che Ryl said.

Spock turned his attention to his friend and commander. "You know more than you are saying about this. You were not surprised to see Merlin."

"No, Spock. I wasn't."

"You wanna explain that, Jim?" McCoy asked.

"Not really," Kirk said. At the dangerous look in McCoy's eyes, he relented. "I'm a Q also, Bones."

McCoy turned to Janus with a grin on his face. "Are you sure the _Valhalla _is full?" Turning back to Kirk, McCoy saw the seriousness of what his friend was saying. "You're not kidding?"

Kirk simply shook his head.

"How unfair is that when you're running to be the commander of Starfleet? Or when Sulu was running for Federation President?" McCoy was well on the way to a tirade now. "Or when we're taking _A_ out all the time? You give yourself an unfair advantage above and beyond what other commanders would have!"

Kirk held up his hand until McCoy stopped, glaring at him. "As far as when I became commander of Starfleet, I wasn't a Q then, and I didn't help Sulu when he became president. He made it on his own merits, Bones. But about taking out _A_, is it really unfair of me to use whatever abilities I have at my disposal to keep my people alive? I have never influenced the mind of anyone with my powers - Ok. once when we were playing poker with that Klingon renegade, but that's different."

"Of course it's not unfair to keep your men alive!" McCoy yelled at him. "But…" He stopped, unsure where to go with his arguments.

"Bones," Kirk said, "I'm still Jim. Nothing has changed."

"What? Everything has changed! You're a Q for crying out loud!"

"I mean nothing has changed about me being James T. Kirk! Besides Bones, I've been a Q for over seventy-five years! What's the problem?"

McCoy didn't know what to say, so he said nothing, but Kirk could see in his face that this was far from over. When they got back to the ship, he would hear more about it.

"So," Kirk asked Merlin, "When did you become Q?"

"At the same time you did, Admiral. When we were in the Nexus, we became Q. The Nexus, itself, is the continuum, but you know that."

"Yes, I do. And that's not what I meant. When will my great-grandson become a Q?"

"You'll know," Che Ryl said. "That's what you are wondering, isn't it? How will you know?"

"Yes," Kirk said, smiling at her.

"The problem is, it happened to both of us in a different reality than the one we're in now," Merlin said.

"Exactly," Kirk agreed. "So I can't really just wait till the energy ribbon and the Soran Incident."

"But you can," Che Ryl disagreed. "Even though those events don't happen in this timeline, you will still know when they occur in the other one."

Kirk cocked his head a bit. "I stand corrected," he said to her, nodding his head graciously. He then leaned in close and said sotto voce; "Any chance I could knock some sense into the Commodore's head and get you two together sooner?"

Che Ryl laughed lightly. "I only wish you could, Admiral," she said, "but I guess it has to play out for her as it did for me. Obviously, since I _was_ her." She laughed again and then continued, pointing at both herself and her husband; "We've had a bit longer together than we had apart, anyway."

"How long have you been married now?" McCoy asked.

"Fifty million, three hundred sixty two thousand, two hundred ninety eight years," Merlin answered immediately. Spock's eyebrow climbed involuntarily to his forehead, and Merlin explained. "I've never had much respect for men who can't remember their anniversary."

"Obviously, that is not a problem you have, Sir," he said thoughtfully.

"So," Kirk said, turning to Q. "How long until my great-grandchildren have you and your sister?"

"Now wait just a damn minute," McCoy said sputtering. You mean to tell me that Q is your great-great-grandson? That explains his personality completely!"

"Indeed it does," Spock said, his eyebrow now completely lost under his hair.

_One week later, somewhere in the sphere..._

Kevin Blake looked at the seemingly innocuous crystal he held in his hand. He had perused the maps of the sphere in the Los Angeles city ship and had found this canyon. It was at least a thousand miles from any city which, considering the scale of the sphere, meant it was relatively close to the nearest one. The diameter of the sphere was two thirds the orbit of Earth, or one and a third AUs, which left room for enormous oceans, mountain ranges that dwarfed the Himalayas, and continents with deserts the size of Asia, Africa, and Europe combined. Kevin was a loner by choice. Somehow, he no longer had the autism which had made him a loner by nature, but he still liked solitude at times.

The particular canyon he was overlooking was actually more of a gently sloping shelf, approximately thirteen hundred kilometers across, and ringed on three sides by three kilometer high cliffs. At the very back of the canyon was a waterfall which produced a river that wound it's way this way and that through the shelf until it came to the other end, where a small mountain range blocked its continued passage. At the base of these mountains, the river backed up into a huge lake, nearly the size of lake Eerie, and twelve hundred feet deep. The peaks of several mountains formed islands near the bottom edge of the lake, and the lake turned into rivers which cataracted through valleys and canyons on the other side of the mountains. Once they reached the foot, they wound through another hundred kilometers of plateau to a cliff which dropped into an ocean covering an area fifteen times the surface area of earth.

Where Kevin stood, he was on the top of a cliff, surrounded by rainforest, and looking at the lake far below. To his left and down, were the mountains which blocked the progress of the river, and to his right, the lake stretched for three hundred fifty kilometers, up the shelf and beyond it was a huge forest of giant Sequoia.

The shelf had been placed where it would benefit from one of the satellites orbiting the sun, and every three cycles of the star to it's moonlight stage, the satellite would pass in between it and the shelf, causing an eclipse over the shelf, increasing the amount of mist raised from the river, and helping the huge redwoods to thrive.

Kevin pushed the crystal he was holding into the ground, and stood back. The crystal coming in contact with micro-wiring sent a signal to Sarah. Kevin had given plans for the home he desired to Sarah, and when she received the coded signal from his crystal, she went to work. First, the cliff he was standing on dematerialized and became a marble balcony complete with railings. A wall materialized a few feet from the edge of the balcony, with french doors into what quickly formed into a room with marble floors and ornately carved woodwork. Then, the newly created building lowered gently into the ground, to about halfway down the cliff. What was left on the top was a gazebo with staircase in the middle, leading down to an elevator shaft which descended to the to the home that had just been built.

He walked through the home and checked to see that everything had been done right, then he stepped into the elevator and ascended to the landing below the gazebo. He climbed the stairs to the gazebo and looked around. From here, he could see the entire shelf, covered by giant sequoia. The trees and rainforest were designed to produce oxygen for this part of the sphere.

Sitting in the gazebo, was Claudia, his wife of fifteen years, waiting for him to arrive. "How's it look?" she asked.

"Exactly like we planned," he answered, smiling. She stood, and they joined hands and descended into their new home.

_On Enterprise-D…_

Jack Carter and his sisters, Samantha O'Neill and Lexi Glennallen walked into Ten Forward. Behind the bar, Guinan stood, in one of her trademark outfits. She saw the three siblings come in, smiled broadly at them, and motioned to a table beside the windows. She finished serving Riker, then she walked to the table. "Can I get you anything?" she asked the three.

"Actually," Sam said, "we just wanted to meet you."

"Well, I'm flattered," Guinan said.

"Uh," Jack said, trying to break her facade, "we know who you are, and we also know that at this time of your life, you know us."

"Really?" Guinan answered. "Now I'm intrigued. What do you know about me?"

"We know that you were born Meribor, Merlin's daughter," Lexi said in a hushed voice. "We know that later, you were fobbed and became Debra Carter, then Janet Fraiser."

"Well, there, you're wrong. You see, I've never been Janet Fraiser. I'm assuming that I'll be her later in my life, because I have been Debra Carter, and I was born Merlin's Daughter."

"Wait a minute," Sam said, startled. "You haven't been Janet?"

"Not that I remember," Guinan confirmed, "and my memory is pretty good. I do know that you three are my kids. It's good to see you've turned out alright." She smiled broadly at them again. "Where's Mark?" she asked after a pause.

"He didn't make it out of San Diego when it was destroyed," Sam said quietly.

Guinan nodded sagely. "I see. Well, I suppose he'll turn up eventually."

"What do you mean?" Lexi asked.

"He's a Q also. You don't think what happened in San Diego is going to take him out of the picture permanently, do you?"

"Yeah," Lexi said brightly, "I didn't think about that."

_On the Inner Surface of the Sphere..._

On a sandy beach, adjacent to one of the many oceans inside the sphere, several ships had been set down. These ships carried the sleepers. They were the people who had not been transported to the other side of the universe, but were still in stasis. Their stasis was accomplished by many different methods. They even used the chair method from P7J-989. This was not the ideal method, but it allowed for, if not real comfort, virtual comfort for the occupants of the chair.

Lantean stasis units had also been used. It was the same type of stasis that had been used to keep Elizabeth Weir alive for ten thousand years in Atlantis, while the city waited for the Terran Team to arrive. The same type of stasis chamber had been used to keep Sheppard alive while waiting for a solar flare that would return him to his correct time.

Several Asgard chambers had been, as the Federation people would say, replicated, to help keep people alive. By far, the most efficient means of keeping people in stasis was the Wraith culling beams. Todd had culled a fair percentage of the people in the Pegasus galaxy before he left for Avalon, and the buffers for several of the beams had been transferred for safekeeping to Mr. Woolsey in Atlantis.

Unfortunately, somehow in the time jump, the Wraith ships had disappeared along with some Jaffa and stasis ships, and no culling beams now existed to reverse the process. Now, Rodney McKay was busy working with the twins, the Alteran Scotty and Geordie, to try to build a culling emitter to reverse the buffers. He was having little luck.

He was very frustrated, and decided to take a breather for a few minutes. He left the quonset hut he was using as a lab, and started walking along the shoreline. The efforts to reverse the culling beam were being attempted at the shore where the rest of the stasis revivals were being conducted. It wasn't that they needed to be done there, but Rodney felt that he might be needed with the rest of the revivals, so it would be better to be near them.

As he was walking, he saw someone coming from the other direction. The figure looked very familiar, and as he got closer, he recognized Merlin.

"Hello, Sir!" he called. Merlin looked startled, and as Rodney got closer, he realized that this was not Merlin, but the Federation man that the wizard had once been. "I'm sorry," McKay said to Commodore Picard, "I mistook you for someone else."

"Yes," the Federation man said, "That's been happening quite a lot, lately."

"So what do you think of SARAH?" Rodney asked, indicating the sphere surrounding them, and hopefully, changing the subject.

Picard looked around him at the landscape. "Very impressive. Even more so from above," he said, indicating his ship above. It was quite a ways up, but could be discerned by the glint of sunlight off of the hull. "What interests me more, however, is why people continue to mistake me for Merlin. Would you mind explaining?"

"Yes, Commodore. I would very much mind explaining." Picard's eyes widened at the impertinence of McKay's statement, but the scientist continued. "However, Sir, I will say that if you will be patient, it will be explained eventually."

"How long is eventually in this case?"

"I'm not going to deceive you, Commodore. It could very well be awhile, but when the time comes, you'll understand why I couldn't explain right now."

Picard glared at him.

"I can't explain beyond that, Sir. How many times have you asked people to just trust you?"

Picard's features softened a bit, and became rueful. "More times than I can remember. When you're in command, you have to ask people to trust you. But I've never liked it when people have expected me to just trust them. I'm the type of person who likes to be in the know."

"There, you see?" McKay said, spreading his arms.

Picard sighed and sat down on a boulder. "Alright, Dr. McKay. I'll stop asking, but when the time comes, you'd better be ready to explain."

The Iconian sat down on another boulder facing the Federation man. "It's a deal, Commodore. I'll be happy to explain when the time is right." He thought for a few moments, then speculated, "Although, I'm not sure you'll need my explanation by that time."

Picard gave him a strange look, then asked "Have you made any progress in reversing the, what did you call it, 'Wraith Culling Beam?"

McKay shook his head, "No. It bugs me too, because I know there's just some little thing I'm not seeing."

Picard thought for a moment. "Would my science officer be of assistance?" At the expression on McKay's face, Picard scolded. "Now this is interesting. You ask me to trust you and wait, but you are unwilling to accept help? It seems to me that what is good for the goose should be good for the gander."

The look McKay gave was truly priceless as he realized he had once again placed himself in an unenviable position. He would have scorned the idea that he could use help coming from anyone else, but he knew this man well. At least he knew a later version of this man well, and genuinely considered him to be friend. "Ok, Sir. You're right. I can't expect you to sit back and trust me and not be willing to swallow my pride and accept help."

Picard was tempted to say it wasn't pride that made him balk at the suggestion that he trust someone else's judgement, when we realized McKay was exactly right. He slowly reached up, and tapped his combadge, and asked Dax to beam to his location.

Rodney wasn't sure about this science officer he was about to meet, but he was prepared for anything. Or so he thought. What happened when the officer materialized, surprised him more than he thought possible. Immediately, a stasis field appeared, and the old man standing before him was motionless. As well, a siren started blaring from somewhere and Sarah's voice called out from thin air, "Warning! The person who just transported to the surface carries a Goa'uld symbiote!"

Picard was speechless as his officer was next dematerialized. He slowly turned to McKay, who suspected that there was fire in the depth of the Commodore's eyes as he very slowly asked. "What is a Goa'uld symbiote?"

"A Goa'uld was a creature, similar in appearance to a snake. They would burrow into the body of a host, usually a human or an Unas. An Unas was a large, reptilian biped that…" He watched Picard's neck muscles flex as he strove for control and patience. "You really don't care about the Unas. Well… Goa'ulds would take over the host body. They were capable of sharing the body equally with the host, but the Goa'uld didn't. They wanted control, and they took it. They were extremely arrogant, and we found over time, that most of the ancient gods in human history had been Goa'uld. They demanded worship, but the humans that they demanded it from were slaves. If they didn't worship their gods, the Goa'uld would simply kill them."

As McKay explained, Picard relaxed. When Rodney had finished his explanation, the federation man nodded, as if that explained much, which only served to confuse McKay, until Picard took his turn at explaining. "I see. Curzon Dax is a joined species. He is a trill. The symbiote, Dax, is very similar to what you are explaining, except the blending of a trill seems to be somewhat different. Perhaps Sarah mistook Dax for a Goa'uld."

"I am very sorry, Commodore Picard. Perhaps I overreacted in my transporting your science officer away," Sarah's voice said.

Picard spun around as he heard a very familiar voice from behind him. "I know about the Trill, Sarah. Commodore Picard is correct in that Dax is no threat. On my authority, please bring him back." The man standing there had a considerably greater amount of grey in his hair, but he was unmistakably Geordie LaForge. "Hello, Commodore. Great to see you."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N – We do not own Star Trek, Stargate, or Eureka. Please review!_

_**Chapter 5**_

Picard stood staring at his chief engineer who wasn't. LaForge glanced behind him, and saw the group of people gathering. "Shall we take a walk gentlemen?"

Picard realized they were about to be overrun by the curious so agreed. LaForge started off in the way Picard had come, and McKay glanced over his shoulder and decided to accompany the two.

"How are you here, Geordie?" Picard asked when the crowd realized they weren't welcome and hung back.

LaForge stopped and said in a low voice. "I can't really explain because of the temporal prime directive, Sir."

"Temporal prime directive," Picard breathed. "You're from the future?"

"Yes and no, Sir. We came from the past, but I'm a future version of Geordie LaForge, which makes the temporal prime directive apply." He glanced back at the crowd and called out, "Sarah, please transport us to the Atlantis conference room."

The three faded out, and rematerialized in a spacious conference room. They sat down at the table and LaForge continued. "I should also point out, Sir, that I'm not your Geordie, and never was. I'm from a timeline where things were much different. It is the timeline that Spock Prime is from." As he was speaking, an older, heavier version of Montgomery Scott walked into the room.

"Scotty! I should have realized that if one of you was here, the other was sure to follow," Picard exclaimed.

"Aye," the older engineer said, "we do seem to always end up being good friends no matter what reality we come from. Don't we, Lad?" he said.

"That we do," Geordie said in a Scottish accent.

"When you say you're not my Geordie, does that mean I shouldn't trust you?" Picard asked mildly.

"Not at all, Sir. I served under Jean Luc Picard just like your Geordie did, and I will never break that trust in any of you," LaForge said smiling.

"That is good to know. Now where is my science officer?"

Sarah spoke before LaForge could. "I have been waiting for you to decide where you were going to stay before I rematerialized him."

With that, Curzon Dax appeared in the room. It took a few moments for Geordie and Scotty to explain to him about the Goa'uld, but once he understood, he expressed a desire to study one of the symbionts.

They spoke for several more minutes, but Picard was itching to get out and explore the famed city. When he voiced his desire, Rodney excitedly offered to show him around and the twins decided to accompany them.

They talked animatedly until they reached the control room where Picard was introduced to Richard Woolsey who shook his hand vigorously as he gushed, "It is, indeed, a pleasure to meet you, Sir, Mr. Worf has told me much about you!"

"You know Mr. Worf?" Picard asked, surprised.

"Yes. He and your Captain Martok have been spending a fair amount of time with the Asgard and our own Ronan and Teyla. I understand Worf has a contest scheduled with Teal'c for," he consulted his watch and his eyebrows raised. "now, actually. If you'll follow me, I'll show you."

They made their way to an arena where several people from both the Federation ships and Atlantis were filling the stands. Picard recognized Thor, the O'Neills, and the Jacksons sitting in the first stand. Thor caught Picard's eye and gestured to some empty spots beside him. The small group made their way to the open spots, and sat down just as the battle began.

Curzon's face split in a wide grin as he recognized the Bat'leth that Worf weilded. Teal'c was using a staff weapon. The two circled each other slowly.

Picard shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as he had seen several such fights where the Federation combatant didn't realize that the fight was to the death. Even on several Federation worlds, such a fight was not always ceremonial. He voiced his concern to Thor who shook his head. "See the red light on Teal'c's staff weapon? It's an Intar. It will only stun."

The crowd cheered as Worf swung his Bat'leth in a deadly arc, which Teal'c barely parried.

"Worf's Bat'leth is quite real, however," Picard stated.

"Yes, but Teal'c is Q. Worf can't hurt him any more than Teal'c allows."

"Teal'c is Q?" Picard asked, stunned. "Then what's the point of the fight? Worf can't win!"

Thor chuckled. "You are correct, Picard. There wouldn't be a point if Teal'c wasn't an honorable man. But he is, and is using only his physical strength, not his powers as Q."

The crowd cheered again as Teal'c swung with his staff weapon, only to have it parried by Worf, who in turn, used the force of the blow to swing his sword up toward Teal'c's face. Teal'c ducked and spun around with his own momentum, bringing the staff out at the last second to trip the Klingon. Worf allowed the blow to land, and fell, but somehow in a blur of Klingon armor and mail, he somersaulted in midair, landing on his feet with his sword sticking through the Jaffa's right arm. Teal'c, in turn, pulled his arm off the sword, and backed away long enough to assess the damage. Worf started to press his advantage but Teal'c would have none of it. He was a blur of movements, blocking Worf's every blow until the klingon finally landed a blade into the Jaffa's neck as the staff weapon went off point blank in his face.

Both combatants fell back with wounds that would have been mortal in a real fight, but Picard could see the wounds on the Jaffa's body close and the blood on his armor disappear. For his part, Worf was on one knee, head hanging down as he shook the effects of the intar weapon off.

The Jaffa stepped over and held out a hand, not to help, as the Klingon was getting to his feet, but to shake. The Klingon grasped the Jaffa's wrist and they shook. "You are a skilled warrior, Teal'c of the Jaffa," Worf said.

"As are you, Worf, son of Mogh."

The crowd was starting to enter the arena, and Picard stepped up to the two combatants. "Excellent fight, gentlemen. A true test of a warrior's mettle."

Teal'c inclined his head, with a beatific smile on his face while Worf stood up straight. "Thank you, Commodore," he said, all dignity and honor.

_Two Weeks Later…_

Rodney was again frustrated with the Wraith culling beam. Why it was not working was still a mystery. He had built a technological version of the beam, which worked beautifully, but when it was connected to the memory units Todd had given them, it refused to reverse. Dax was certain that it had to do with a cypher built into the memory. The memory was somehow encoded so that there was no way to reverse the system without the original cypher. Rodney was at first skeptical, but the more they worked with the system, the more he was certain that Dax could be right.

Daniel Jackson and Picard were working just as hard at Earth, but on a different area for the Iconians. When they had left their timeline, the Ori had destroyed almost all habitable planets in Avalon. This left many planets of humans that had not developed their own hyperspace travel. The Prime Directive dictated that the Federation should not interfere in their development. These groups were somewhat of an enigma, however, because they were very much aware of the Stargate system, and other civilizations.

Ambassador Spock and the two Iconian ambassadors, Jade O'Neill and Nefreyu, had worked out a beneficial treaty for both parties. Now, Jackson and Picard were on Earth to lend their support to the three as they spoke to the council. As the two approached the council chambers, Ambassadors Spock, Jade, and Nefreyu joined them. While Spock and his great-grandfather were personal friends of the council president, Picard was always a bit in awe of entering this chamber. He knew most of the people, including President Sulu, but the amount of power that was wielded here was enough to sober anyone. Not just Earth was governed here, but several hundred worlds.

"Thank you for joining us, gentlemen," the Vulcan said just before they entered the council chambers.

This meeting had been scheduled well in advance, and Sulu, as well as most of the council, had already been briefed.. They had all read diplomatic packets prepared by the Iconians, and in fact, had approved of the treaty negotiated by these three skilled diplomats.

Each council member stood as the five approached the front of the room, and as they seated themselves, the council sat. Spock and Picard remained standing at the front of the room. "Mr. President," the Vulcan intoned, "it is gratifying to see you after such a long time."

"Welcome, Ambassador," Sulu stated. "It most definitely is good to see you."

"Sir," Spock continued, "you are, of course, aware of the progress we have made in our negotiations."

"Yes, Mr. Ambassador, I am aware. In exchange for the use of several uninhabited planets and our assistance with slipstream technology, each Federation world will have access to the Iconian stargate system."

Jade O'Neill stood and was recognized.

"Mr. President," she said, "we have several races with us, who, by your law, would not be eligible for contact. They are not warp capable, but are able to reach out to us, via the gates."

Sulu nodded, then said, "In my opinion, those gates void the Prime Directive on those planets. As I'm sure Ambassador Spock has explained, our law prohibits making first contact with a race that is unaware that they are not alone in the universe, unless their discovery of such is imminent, as with a race that has just discovered spacewarp. The refugees you have with you, are knowledgeable of other people in the universe. Aren't they?"

Jade fidgeted a bit, then explained. "Mr. President, some of them are; however, some were culled by the Wraith in order to save them from the Ori, and are still in the culling buffers. We have not had much success with reversing the process, and our Wraith allies disappeared during our journey. When we succeed in reversing them, we could have several million people from various races of humans who know nothing of what has happened to them, except that they were culled, and are now free." She looked around at the Federation delegates and then at Spock, who nodded for her to continue. She could feel his telepathy brushing her mind. "_Trust the president_," his mind was telling her. She nodded and looked back at President Sulu.

"Sir, I make no apology for Todd, the leader of the Wraith, doing what he did. He was saving humans wholesale, as much as he could. The Iconian Alliance feels that what he did was commendable." She glanced back at Nefreyu, and he smiled. She could feel his support as well. For all her power as a Q, she still hated public speaking. She wished Merlin were here. She had always had a special relationship with him, and would love to have his support at this moment. "We wish to point out that some of the worlds we are asking for will be, by your own law, 'hands-off' worlds to you. We will place stargates there, and will ease these people into the knowledge required to understand what has happened."

"I object!" It was a gruff voice and the person who owned it stood up. Jade was struck by how porcine the delegate appeared.

"The chair recognizes the Tellerite delegate, Gran," the president said mildly, as several delegates could be heard vocalizing their disapproval of the interruption.

"If the Iconians are to use our worlds, then we should be allowed to have someone present to observe this so called 'easing of them into knowledge'."

Before the president could say anything, Spock responded. "An excellent idea, Madam Delegate. In fact, I have discussed this at length with the Iconian ambassadors, and they too, agree that what you are proposing would be in the best interest of the Federation, as the worlds will essentially be on loan from us."

Gran sat down in a huff, knowing that she had been out maneuvered by Spock, but having nothing she could do about it.

Sulu gazed out over the delegates surrounding the stage. He turned back to Spock, and with great feeling said, "Spock, you have represented this Federation for over sixty years now, and I can't think of anyone I would rather place my trust in as Ambassador. I understand your desire for a special meeting with the council. No one was expecting that we would be unable to set foot on these planets for a time, and I thank you for bringing it to our attention. That being said, you have the complete backing of this council in all matters. That was decided before you entered, and nothing anyone has said since then changes that decision."

Spock nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. President, Delegates."

The Iconian ambassadors also thanked the council as they took their leave.

Outside the chambers, the group sat down at one of the sidewalk cafes that seemed to be getting more and more popular in San Francisco. The waiter bustled over and Jade and Jackson ordered coffee. Picard requested an Earl Grey, hot, while Nefreyu ordered some herbal tea. Spock simply asked for water.

Picard regarded Jackson. "I suppose I should be asking your ambassadors this, but I am curious as to why you do not join the Federation. I know the ambassadors have discussed this, but…" Picard knew it was somewhat improper for him to ask, but the Iconians had always been an interest of his. He knew more about them than many archeologists did, and he wasn't about to accept not knowing why they refused to join.

Jackson smiled. "I understand, Commodore, that our ambassadors have been very quiet on this subject to you. Spock has explained to me how you have studied the Iconians for many years." He paused, wondering what to say, exactly. "There are some things I just can't say. I've been forbidden to say. Believe me, it's as frustrating for me as it is for you."

"You're forbidden to say… By Merlin," Picard said. He was starting to actively dislike the Wizard, even though he had never met him.

"Yes," Jackson said. "By Merlin. And by our temporal prime directive."

"Are you saying that you know of something in my future that I cannot know of yet? Is it my death?"

"Yes, I know about something of your future, and no, it's not your death. But you know, Sir, that if I was to give you knowledge of certain things, it could change the timeline."

"But you are from the past," Picard argued.

"Yes. Yes we are," Jackson agreed.

"Then how can you know…." He broke off realizing the implications. "Unless somehow, in my future, I travel into the past."

Jackson neither nodded nor shook his head. Instead, he held Picard's gaze as he said, "No one in the Alliance is against joining the Federation. However, over the years, we have learned the importance of patience. Until the Federation and the Alliance understand each other better, we cannot take that step. Both for our safety and yours."

Picard understood that Jackson was saying no more. He also strongly suspected that he had made some crucial connection that Jackson couldn't confirm but wouldn't deny.

_Later that Evening…_

Vice Chancelor Daniel Jackson stood at the podium in the council chambers in Camelot. Hundreds of delegates filled the room with other officials and the media in the balcony. He was in his element, lecturing on history... the history of the Federation. His new friend, Jean Luc Picard, would be making a similar presentation to the Federation regarding the Iconians. For now, Picard was seated on the platform, ready to help if Jackson got stuck answering a question after his lecture.

"My fellow Iconians," Daniel began. "I would like to explain what has happened in the last three hundred thousand years in our galaxy. From what we have been able to piece together, with the help of our friends, the United Federation of Planets, and in particular, Commodore Jean Luc Picard, the Doci's death has had far reaching implications.

"We know that the Doci had become a Q, and when he died, it was out of time. As we know, the death of a Q is a fixed point in time, no matter the reality. He or she must die at the same moment in time in all realities. For the Doci, this was not the case. He died out of time, and this caused a convergence of realities. While this is something the Q would never condone under normal circumstances, in this case it was something that was essential for the universe to develop as it must. We are in a fractured reality, or rather, a reality which was destined to fracture.

"When this happened, we believe that at least five Earths expanded outward from the point of origin of the planet. Interestingly, this sphere is at that point of origin. Our own Earth was flung far from here, as was the Federation Earth. I have studied many Federation records and have found that Federation ships have visited three of those Earths. Ours, unfortunately, has not been found, that I could determine.

"The Federation has given me access to their history, and I will try to summarize some of the major points. This Earth became spacefaring in their late twentieth century, as did we. We gained FTL travel quickly, thanks to the technology we gained through the stargate. However, these people took about a hundred years, but they did it on their own, after their third world war.

"The FTL technology they developed was not hyperspace as we know it. It is referred to as _warp_ drive, and while we use hyperspace to travel faster than light, they use subspace. As such, warp technology is much slower than our hyperspace. Hyperspace, however, will not work in this time, because of the untimely death of the Doci, so we must be prepared to use our gate technology or the much slower warp of this time period.

"Earth also began reaching out to other races when they developed warp drive. They became friends with the Vulcans, and other races. They made the acquaintance of the Klingons at this time as well, but did not cultivate a friendship for nearly another hundred or more years.

"The timeline was again altered when a version of Ambassador Spock and some miners from a race known as the Romulans came through a rift in space. They came from a time one hundred years into our current future, to about a hundred years into our past. These miners used their superior technology to alter the past, and thereby change their future, permanently. They destroyed the Vulcan homeworld, and the Klingon moon, Praxis, which sent the Klingons into economic chaos

"Admiral Marcus, then commander in chief of Starfleet, the Federation's defense and exploration arm, developed a virus, through Starfleet's R&D sector, which was spread through the protien resequencers on each world of the Federation. This had the effect of augmenting the human population of the Federation, and to a lesser degree, other races.

"The effect on humans was much like that of the Nox virus. Human lifespans were lengthened. Intelligence, healing factors... All of that was expanded. However, while the Nox virus focused on physical healing and intelligence, the augment virus of the federation focused more on strength as a higher priority than intelligence.

"Don't get me wrong! Their virus more than tripled the intelligence of the average person, and did the same with strength, so the Federation people are incredibly smart by our old standards of measurement. But while the average increase was three times for intelligence, strength averaged around three point eight times. Those figures are approximately reversed for the Nox virus.

"About eighty years ago, the Federation Commander of Starfleet, Admiral James Kirk, met with an old adversary of his in the Klingon Empire, one Dahar Master Kang, and they were able to forge an alliance between the two governments. This alliance proved to be beyond fruitful for both sides, and eventually, the Klingon Empire joined the Federation. For the last fifty years, each Starfleet ship has a special officer, termed a Battle Captain, who is trained for combat with both Federation and Klingon battle tactics.

"When a race joins the Federation, they bring what they can to the table, to help contribute to their overall culture. In the case of the Klingons, this was the art of warfare. In the case of the Vulcans, they brought scientific knowledge and proficiency in exploration.

"Another race, known as the Fabrini, brought an extensive medical knowledge to the Federation. I've even read that there is a member race called the 'Horta' which are a silicon based life form, and they use a hyper corrosive acid to move through rock as easily as we move through air. Their contribution is as natural miners. The Ardanans and many others, contributed their love of art and beauty.

"The Iconian Alliance has signed a treaty with the Federation, although we have not joined them. That step may very well be taken in the future, but for now, we need to be prudent and cautious."

Jackson allowed for questions and he and Picard answered them thoroughly. Finally, after several hours, the two were confident that both fears and curiosity had been satisfied.

_Two Weeks Later…_

Vala's enthusiasm brought history to life, as she and Daniel continued to sift through the innumerable historical records the Federation had shared with the Iconians. They had been perusing some old news stories, and he came across a picture of someone he thought he recognized. "Vala, can you look at this?" he asked his wife. "I think we may know this man."

Vala glanced quickly at the screen and did a double take. "I think you're right, Daniel," she said. "He certainly looks familiar to me."

"The first name is right, but not the last." Daniel thumbed a communication switch. "Jackson to O'Neill and Teal'c."

A few minutes later, Jack, Sam, and Teal'c had joined them and were staring at the computer terminal. The face smiling back was little changed, except for the seriously curled mustache and a bit less hair, but it was immediately recognizable.

"That's him," Sam said.

"Teal'c?" O'Neill asked, "what do you think?"

"I too agree, O'Neill. I am certain that this is him."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Jack complained. "I should probably talk to Admiral Kirk, don'tcha think?"

"That's up to you, Jack," Daniel said. "I refuse to get involved here."

"Yet you had no problem showing me the picture, did you?"

"Well… I just…. The last name fits him, you know?" Daniel stammered.

"Yes," Jack agreed. "Mudd. Who woulda thought ol' Harry Mayborne would go from being Arkhan the first, to a crooked trader with the last name of Mudd. Kinda sad, I suppose."

"Then why are you smiling, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, rather unnecessarily as he had an enormous grin on his face as well.

"I think I'll go see him," O'Neill said.

"Why bother?" Sam asked. "According to the article, he was sentenced to one hundred years. He gets out in less than a year."

"And I think I'll see him each day of that remaining year," Jack said. "For old times sake. And to… rub it in a bit." He stood and looked at his wife. "Just rub it in a bit," he said again.

"Jack, don't you think he's paid his debt to society?" Sam asked as Jack started to the door.

O'Neill turned back with a defensive look on his face. "No. Not quite," he answered, then turned and left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: We would like to thank our Beta Reader for all of her hard work, and for stepping up to the plate when our previous Beta Reader could not continue. _

_Standard Disclaimer: We do not own Eureka, Stargate, or Star Trek. Just fans!_

_Please Review._

_Chapter 6_

It had been five years since the Iconians arrived in the Federation's time period, and it was now decided that the time had come for the iconians to join the United Federation of Planets. This union would be a tricky one to manage, however, as the Alliance contained several people who also existed in the Federation, but at different periods in their lives.

Picard was sitting in his ready room when there was a door chime. He put down his cup of Earl Grey and looked up from his screen. "Come," he announced. Rather than the door opening, however, the room lit up and Daniel Jackson flashed into being, sitting relaxed on Picard's sofa, legs crossed, and an arm around Vala, who flashed in beside him.

"Daniel! Vala! Good to see you both! I'm not sure I will ever get used to the way you arrive, however," he said smiling.

"Good to see you too, Jean Luc," Daniel said.

"Oh, you'll get used to it," Vala said.

Picard shook his head. In all the time I've dealt with Janus, I am still not used to his comings and goings. I'm afraid I'm just old fashioned in my way of thinking."

"Well," Daniel said, "we'd like to discuss something with you." Picard looked curious and Jackson went on. "The Iconian Alliance has decided to join the Federation. Ambassador Spock, Jade, and Nefreyu are working out the details of the treaty as we speak."

"That's wonderful news," Picard exclaimed.

"Yes, but we have some things to tell you which you may find disturbing," Vala said.

"And what might that be?"

"Well," Daniel said hesitantly, "it might be easier to show you."

Picard watched as another person flashed into the room. He had thought he was prepared for just about anything the Q could throw at him, but this surprised him. He was quite satisfied that he didn't react, but it took all of his self control to keep the astonishment from showing on his face. The newly arrived Picard held out his hand to him and announced, "I am Merlin." Picard looked at the outstretched hand and then back at the duplicate standing in front of his desk.

"Is this some sort of a joke?" he asked, scowling.

"I assure you, it is no joke," Merlin said.

"I am assuming that this is what you couldn't tell me about my future five years ago," Picard said to Daniel.

"No, actually telling you this wouldn't have had too much of an adverse effect on the universe in general," Jackson answered. "There are other things you still can't know."

Merlin still had his hand stretched out over the desk. "Would it hurt you to shake my hand, Jean Luc?"

Slowly the starship commander stood up, reached out, and grasped the hand of his future self. He stood appraising the Q. After a moment of looking him up and down, he indicated the chair in front of the desk. "Please have a seat."

Merlin nodded and seated himself. Picard did the same and they sat regarding each other for a long moment.

"How do I become Q? "

"You understand that I cannot tell you that," Merlin said.

"Yes, but it doesn't hurt to ask, does it?" Picard responded.

"Not at all, and I assure you that I would tell you if it wouldn't affect so much. I would have liked to know when I was you."

"And how long ago was that?" Picard asked.

"Let's just say that the years ahead for you far outnumber the years behind, Jean Luc."

Picard nodded and then changed tack. "So things about me personally, you can't answer. I understand and respect that. Can you tell me, then, will some of my colleagues also become Q?"

Daniel answered. "Yes. We figured this was the best way for you to learn about Merlin, but there are other Q that you know personally." Slowly, to help shelter him from the shock, the three explained about The Commander and The First, but not how either of them came to be a Q. Nor did they explain about Merlin being grandfather to Jack Carter and his siblings. That information, as well as knowledge of his own wife and children needed to be learned at a later date.

It surprised Picard that he accepted this information as readily as he did, but he had learned to trust Jackson, and for the life of him, he saw no reason for these Q to lie to him.

_Later, In San Francisco..._

On the steps of the Capitol Building, Merlin flashed into being. He was due for an appointment with the UFP president, Hikaru Sulu. He stepped through the weapon deactivation units easily, and through the guard post with no difficulty. Had he needed a weapon, he would have no difficulty making one or a hundred appear on his person, but there was no need for that. He was ushered into the president's office, and Sulu stood and offered his hand. "I've been informed as to your identity, but you've got to understand, I've known Jean Luc Picard for many years, and it is strange knowing you're not him."

"But I am, indeed him, Mr. President, albeit a much older version. I remember meeting you many years ago and I remember you giving me my advanced pilots exam at Starfleet Academy when I was a cadet."

Sulu was startled, "I'm sorry, Sir, I didn't realize. I know I need to think of you as Merlin, not Picard. I guess it just hadn't sunk in yet."

"That is quite alright, Mr. President. I understand how confusing this can be."

Sulu offered Merlin a chair, and they got down to business.

"Ambassador Spock tells me that the Iconians are capable of manufacturing antimatter cheaply."

"Among other things. We can create other inexpensive sources of power as well. What the Iconians call naquadah is the metallic form of dilithium. I have been told by one of our most prominent scientists that it may be possible to manufacture dilithium from naquadah, thereby bypassing the Federation's problem with replicating it."

With each item of the agreement they discussed, they both felt more confident in the success of the Iconian membership. Eventually, Sulu stood and said, "From what I can see, Merlin, the Iconians joining the Federation seems to be a great fit. As strange as it seems to be saying this to you, welcome to the Federation, Sir." He reached out and grasped Merlin's hand.

"Thank you, Mr. President," Merlin said, smiling.

_On the Dyson Sphere…_

Daniel Jackson was in his element. In addition to his duties as Vice Chancellor, he had spent the last five years extensively studying Federation history. Picard had introduced him to Dr. Richard Galen, his old archaeology professor, and when the three of them got together, they made a formidable team that had become respected throughout the Federation. Many theories had been postulated by them, and later proven, much to the disgust of many of their colleagues. It was pointed out that with Jackson a Q, all of their theories, whether correct or not, could and would be proven. Jackson, for his part, maintained that he never falsified any research, but those who suggested it remained unconvinced. Professor Galen said it was just professional jealousy, and Picard agreed with him. Jackson was an incredibly disciplined and gifted archeologist, and Picard was glad to be on the team with him.

Over the past few years, the three had made some startling discoveries, the most surprising of which was the story of a missing Baal. They had discovered that one of the Goa'uld's clones had been missed, and had even travelled into the future with the Iconians, keeping a low profile. However, before they had arrived in the time of the Federation, the small refugee ship the clone had been on was lost from the rest of the fleet and dropped into regular space. The ship crash landed on a small planet in the outskirts of what would become Federation space in a few thousand years. All aboard perished including Baal's human host. However, his symbiote, while weakened, was able to transfer to another host that happened upon the downed ship.

In the new host, Baal wasn't able to take complete control, and whether this was because he was weakened or something about the host, he wasn't sure. What became clear soon after he entered the host was that their minds merged, and they started acting as one. He found that the host was a fascinating creature, although somewhat simple in it's mind. He was rather disgusted at it's appearance, but because he was joined to it so completely, those thoughts soon faded. His goals and ambitions were colored by the host also, and it no longer mattered to him to be thought of as a god. Rather, he found he was simply wanting power and money, more for greed's sake than anything else.

The host Baal was in, he soon discovered, was called a Ferengi. As a race, they were rather shy, and unobtrusive, but he changed that quickly enough. When he returned to Ferenginar, he used his intelligence and experience to start a political movement based in greed. As a race, the Ferengi found this appealing and they quickly restructured their government to reflect the new ideology. Naturally, Baal orchestrated things to where he was the head of this new government and he grandiosely called himself the Grand Nagus, and passed laws requiring all Ferengi to behave as he did.

Daniel found it compelling that the last known System Lord had left his mark on a time so far into the future from the peak of their power. The researchers briefly speculated that Baal could have moved from one Grand Nagus to the next, however, without a sarcophagus, this was unlikely.

Normally, Picard was away on the D, as the commanding officer. Now, however, he was taking shore leave on the sphere and working with Jackson and Professor Galen. He was glancing through archives of the recent past, seeing if he could find any evidence of some of the other missing Iconians prematurely dropping out of the time warp into normal space. What caught his eye was an article in a Topeka newspaper. He was looking at a picture he had seen before. It showed a man and a woman sitting on a couch, holding an infant girl. What surprised him, was that he now recognized the man and woman where they had previously been strangers to him. The article stated that the child was Amanda Rogers, and that the couple were her parents. The freak tornado that had killed her parents had made this little girl famous for a time. What was surprising was that her parents were clearly Jack and Samantha O'Neill. He sat for a long time wondering what, if anything, to do with this information. He wondered how a tornado could have killed a couple of Q. Perhaps it was more than just a freak tornado? He supposed that there must be an explanation beyond what he knew from history, as he didn't think Jack and Sam were the kind of people who would abandon a child. Picard pondered the facts as he understood them. Sam and Jack were stuck on the sphere for three hundred thousand years, unable to use their powers as Q until just before the Iconians arrived, five years ago. But Amanda Rogers was orphaned on Earth eight years before that, and was now thirteen years old. Therefore, sometime in their future, Jack and Sam must travel back in time, have a child on Earth, and then die in a tornado. He shook his head, baffled by a universe that left him wondering about the flow of time in his friends' lives.

_Elsewhere on the Sphere…_

Kevin Blake, Douglas Fargo, and Janus were working together in one of Sarah's labs. They had been working on the problem of growing dilithium from naquadah. It wasn't quite as simple as one might think. The power requirements were quite extreme, and even though Sarah had power to spare, what she didn't use for the sphere was shunted into hyperspace, and wasted. There was simply no known way to store that much raw energy.

Kevin had been musing about this problem for quite some time. He had been sitting in front of a computer, trying to find a compound that would be usable in a capacitor capable of storing the necessary power for several hours. As the last simulation reached the end of it's run with negative results, he slumped in his chair. Fargo noticed, and asked, "Another negative?"

Kevin looked up and nodded. "This is the two hundred forty-third compound I've tried. Nothing seems to work. I know Aunt Sam said this is possible, and we can do it. I just don't think it's efficient enough to be worth it. Everything I try uses way more time and energy than it would cost to mine natural crystals."

Janus stood up from the bench he was working at. He walked to where he could see Kevin's screen. "Well, I was going to ask if you were thinking outside the box, but from what I'm seeing here, you definitely have been. Just out of curiosity, how would you achieve a temperature of negative one hundred twenty kelvin?"

"If it had worked in simulation, I would have left that up to you," Kevin answered. "I was hoping that the math would allow neutronium to become a superconductor at that temperature. It's density should have allowed… would have allowed enough energy to be stored, but it seems that the neutronium just isn't conductive at any temperature."

"Well, it is," Janus explained, "but it's more conductive to thermal energy than electrical energy. That's where you're running into problems. Even if you could get it that cold, which obviously you can't without breaking the laws of physics, you couldn't hold it there long enough because it would be drawing thermal energy from the surrounding space." He clapped Kevin on the shoulder. "Nice thinking though, Kev!"

"Thanks," Kevin said, disheartened. He sighed, and started to turn back to his computer, but a thought came to him. "Wait a sec!" he exclaimed, turning back to Janus and Fargo. "That's it! If we could pull energy from the surrounding space, we could do it!"

"I thought you were looking into zero point energy earlier. There's not enough in a ZPM," Fargo said.

"Not a standard ZPM. I'm talking about making a super charged ZPM. We're already channeling the extra energy from the star into hyperspace. What if we were to focus it on one point in hyperspace? Like what we do when we build a ZPM?"

"But a ZPM can only channel so much energy back from the pocket universe it's tapped into before it burns out," Fargo argued. "That's why we only put so much energy into the manufacture of one. It's a waste to use more."

Kevin was nodding. "Right, that's because of the speed a ZPM can pull the energy out of the pocket. But we don't need to pull the energy that fast. As a matter of fact, unless we were using Atlantis' wormhole drive, we don't need to pull that much power from a ZPM all at once, ever!"

"Hang on a minute," Janus said, a smile starting to form on his face. "You're saying that we could get the power needed from a ZPM if it wouldn't burn out as fast? What if we were to put an inhibitor crystal into the ZPM so it couldn't transfer power as fast?"

Fargo was smiling now too. "That might work! I'll bet we could even tap several ZPMs into the same pocket for drawing power!"

"You bet we could!" Kevin exclaimed. "We could probably shunt all the excess power from the star into it and replace the standard ZPM modules with the super ZPM module and have them all tapped into the same pocket. We'd end up powering everything from the sphere's star! A single pocket universe outside our own, rendering distance, time, and direction completely meaningless. We could power your time jumper with one and travel to any point in time or space and still have a steady stream of power."

"Now, let's not get crazy here," Janus said, cautioning. "You're right about what this could achieve, but there are still reasons why we might need a faster transfer rate. Shields, for example. I think we'd probably need more power for drones too, but I think you're on to something here, Kev. Let's figure out how much power we can draw through a ZPM without it eventually depleting, then work on an inhibitor crystal. Whether this works for dilithium manufacturing or not, I'll bet it works as a power source for lots of other things."

It took several weeks to get the power transfer rate stabilized so a ZPM wouldn't burn itself out, but once they had the rate figured, it was easy enough to grow an inhibitor crystal that would hold the rate steady. The super ZPM power output wasn't quite high enough to grow dilithium, however, by arranging three of them to produce three phase power, they were able make the process practical. This same setup also allowed for a power transfer rate closer to that of a single ZPM, thereby allowing shields and other high energy usage equipment to be powered by the Super ZPMs. Because of the need for three modules to equal one standard ZPM, however, it was more economical to use a standard one in many cases, but for long term, high output, the Super was definitely the way to go.

Once the SZPM was in production, it was installed into each of the Ancient vessels, starting with the Auroras. These and the city ships were quite easy to modify. Basically, what amounted to a diode was placed in between each of the three ZPM slots and the power conduits. This allowed for the standard amount of power in an uninterrupted manner. All three modules would deliver power, but only at the specified time in the phase cycle. To regain the redundancy that once existed, another SZPM trio was added.

Fargo had another idea for the modules: communications. A Federation style transporter was used to direct a matter stream into the pocket. This matter stream would form a box nearly the size of a starship with a small communications relay inside it. Once inside the pocket, the box was designed to collapse in on itself. As it was transported, it was incredibly dense, but the energy density of the pocket would cause the box to collapse even farther, into neutronium. It would function as a communication hub, and telemetry transmitter from the pocket so they could monitor it's condition. Ships and cities with SZPMs were able to send signals through an un-resisted connection to a single module and on to the relay. The relay would then direct the signal to the correct SZPM terminal.

After the Auroras and city ships, more complicated connections were devised to hook the new systems into Asgard and Terran vessels. A system was designed by Fargo to connect the power supplies into Ha'tak vessels, but it was not implemented as the Jaffa were considering striking out on their own rather than remaining with the Iconians.

A few months after the Asgard vessels began receiving the SZPM modules, Janus approached Admiral Kirk with the idea of installing a standard ZPM module aboard some Federation ships. Kirk thought the idea sounded good, and ordered D to the sphere for a test run of the system.

Enterprise-D coasted into orbit around Iconia Prime and Picard transported to the surface. He was met by Kevin, Fargo, and Janus. "Gentlemen," he greeted them, genuinely happy to see Kevin and Fargo, but still untrusting of Janus.

"Greetings, mon Capitan," Janus said, not helping Picard's feelings regarding him in the slightest.

In response, Picard glared, and Janus decided to let well enough alone for the time being. They stepped into a conference room inside their quonset hut laboratory, and sat down.

"Commodore," Fargo began. "We have communicated with Starfleet regarding the new SZPM modules. We would like to test one aboard D."

"I see," Picard said. "If I understand correctly, they utilize a form of zero point energy, correct?"

"Yes, Sir," Kevin said enthusiastically, "I figure with a trio of modules like we have on board Atlantis, you should have double the power output you have right now!"

"That would be a considerable increase," Picard said, "but how do we know that the energy generated by your ZPMs is compatible with D's power requirements? We might end up blowing our entire power grid."

"I considered that," Janus nodded. "And to that end, I discussed the matter with the twins when I developed the power converter that would connect the modules to your conduits. They assure me that there is absolutely no danger."

Picard considered his words carefully. "Janus, I hope you will not take offense at this, but I really don't want something you've designed anywhere near the power transfer conduits on my ship."

Janus nodded. "I admit, Commodore, that I deserve that. Would it help if I were to show the complete specs to Commander LaForge before anything was even removed from it's shipping crates?"

"Show him before you even pack your equipment, and I'll consider it. If he doesn't like anything he sees, I don't care what Starfleet Command says, you will not even beam your equipment aboard my vessel, let alone connect it."

"Fair enough, Commodore. I'm willing to go over the specs anytime he wishes."

Picard stood and said brusquely, "Good. I'll have Commander LaForge beam down immediately. Now if you'll excuse me, Q"

Picard exited the conference room quickly, and Kevin turned to Janus. "What did you do to him?"

Janus shook his head. "I rebelled."


	7. Chapter 7

_A/n: Same thing as always. We don't own the original stories. Please review!_

_Chapter 7_

_Enterprise-D_ had performed beautifully with the ZPMs connected to her power supplies. They were not the super variety, but there were three of them, just like in the pre SZPM power room of Atlantis. The three ZPMs were designed to act as one. A single ZPM had a power output approaching that of a _D's_ warp core. The big difference was that a ZPM could yield all of that power at once without exploding. The three modules now in her engine room were not capable of yielding three times the power at once. Instead, they would yield the same amount of power for three times the duration. Granted that was not a very long time - something measured in microseconds, but the explosion of power would be like transferring a warp core overload through the power couplings of _D_.

After _D_, _Yomato_ received a set of ZPMs, then the remaining Federation vessels. Many of Starfleet's command staff thought it unnecessary to install such a power supply in _A_, but Captain Scott secretly spoke to the twins, and they developed a conversion unit specifically designed for the aging ship. As they were installing the unit the Iconian Scott held up a small module for the engineer's inspection. "This wee part… it'll give the ol' lass a second wind."

Captain Scott eyed the small piece of equipment. "Aye? And what is it?"

The twin smiled. "That's the question, now isn't it, Lad? Ye install that in line between the power modules and the conversion unit, and if it sees that ye have dropped in a set of Super ZPMs, it'll switch the system over ta' runnin' them." He turned to Commander LaForge, who was assisting while _D_ was picking up some cargo containers. "Here's one for _D_, too, Lad," he said, holding out a similar piece.

LaForge eyed the piece of equipment. "Scotty," he said, "I watched Janus install something identical to this when we were finishing the install on _D._"

"Did he now?" Scotty replied with a chuckle. "I'm not surprised. We both worked on this design together."

It was not the idea of the Iconian council to install SZPMs aboard the Federation vessels, but Scotty, Geordie, and Janus knew that at some point they may be needed, so building the power converter unit to automatically detect whichever module it contained seemed like a smart idea.

"Not that I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth, Scotty, but how would we get our hands on a set of super ZPMs?" LaForge asked.

"I just happen to have what you need to turn your standard modules into super ones." He picked up a small case that he had brought with him. Inside, it contained eight pale orange crystals. "Three and a spare for each o' ye," Scotty said, smiling. He tapped a control on top of one of the ZPM slots, and the module slid up into view. Inside it, could clearly be seen a green crystal. "To make the switch, ye slide that wee green one out, and slide this orange one into it's place. This is the inhibitor crystal. Take care that ye don' deplete the modules all the way, though, otherwise they won't work as a super module."

"Aye, I understand," Captain Scott said. "If ye deplete it, there's no good crystal left to carry the load!"

"Aye, Lad," Scotty confirmed. "Stop drainin' 'em at around ten percent, otherwise they'll do ye no good."

_Nine Years After the Iconians Arrived…_

Picard was sitting in his ready room, sipping a cup of Earl Grey when he received an 'eyes only' communique from Starfleet. He entered his cypher into his desktop terminal and his worst fears were confirmed as he looked at the screen. He slowly set down the cup of tea and thumbed his alert switch for the command crew. His ears registered the alert by the computer for Martok, Worf, and Riker to come to his ready room, but he didn't really hear it. The door chime sounded twice before he absently said, "Come."

The two Klingons and Riker entered the room and stood before his desk. "Have a seat," he told them. Martok and Worf both glanced at each other, preferring to stand, but sitting anyway as was the human custom.

"What is it?" Riker asked, concerned about Picard's attitude.

Picard seemed to shake himself, then he looked at his officers. "Five long range tactical Borg cubes have been detected entering Federation space. They have already destroyed several Romulan vessels. They were spotted by the Klingon bird of prey, _Sov_, which was cloaked. Somehow the Borg spotted him anyway and destroyed him. Captain Lin got off a distress call before being destroyed."

"Lin has been destroyed? He was a good warrior," Martok said. Picard knew it was not idle praise that prompted his Battle Captain to say that. He had seen the Klingon sparring with Lin when they were on Earth two years ago. The Klingon had towered over the Oriental Lin, but somehow the human, Lin, had managed to send the Klingon's bat 'leth flying as he stopped just short of penetrating the massive chest with his own weapon. He used a Scottish highlander, almost as long as he was tall. Picard had never known how the small man had managed, either with the highlander, or as captain of an almost exclusively Klingon crew, but he had seen Lin's crew with their captain. They had been as loyal to him as if he was their father. He could well have been since he was well over two hundred years old and still looking forward to another hundred. _Such a waste_, Picard thought, _he must have given them the fight of their lives!_

"He shall be avenged," Worf said grimly.

"Yes, he will," Riker added.

Picard nodded, "Agreed." He turned to Martok and ordered, "Prepare the ship for battle mode, and contact the battle group. I want them by our sides as we arrive. We are ordered to Wolf 359. The Federation will make it's stand there." As the others left the room, he stopped Riker. "Prepare the _Qan_, Will."

"Certainly, Sir," he affirmed. As he left the ready room, he tapped his communicator. "Riker to Barkley," then the door closed behind him.

Picard thought about his friendship with Lin, after they had gone, and a steel determination that he not have died in vain slowly enveloped his heart.

When _D_ rendezvoused with _Qan_, the civilians on board the galaxy class vessel transported to the smaller science vessel. During battle, the _Qan _would head towards the nearest Federation populated world. That was not to say that _Qan_ had no teeth and was not able to defend himself. He was a Klingon designed vessel and was armed quite well. His normal commander was a scientist, and the ship had been scouting a couple of light years from _D_. He would always remain near to the assigned patrol of the larger vessel, and was technically an extension of _D's_ scientific duties. Once the ship was recalled, Commander Reginald Barkley was automatically bumped to the position of commander of the _Qan_. He was marginally a line officer, which put him above Captain Data, the regular commander, who was fully capable of commanding the science vessel when not in battle. Actually, Data was fully capable of commanding even during battle, but had not received his certification yet. He had taken all the classes required, but was waiting for Starfleet bureaucracy to approve him. Barkley would accompany the _Qan_ to a world where it would set down, but unless an emergency situation arose, he would not usurp Captain Data's authority.

In Kirk's day, a Captain was certified for command in any situation, but once the Klingons became part of the Federation, bringing their battle tactics with them, a commander could focus solely on scientific ventures or battle. Some commanders chose to cross train, but those were few and far between. Picard was one such commander, which was why he was in charge of the entire battle wing. Riker had also cross trained, and both had recently been promoted. Riker, to the rank of Captain, which technically made him the commanding officer of _Enterprise-D_. Picard had become a rear admiral and reluctantly gave up command of the ship, but in the upcoming situation his knowledge would be much better used in charge of the battle group. As a flag officer, he would be the highest ranking officer in the Federation fleet present, and would be in charge of the entire force. As such, the mundane tasks of commanding a single ship were to be avoided.

Martok would command the battle section of _Enterprise_, and Riker would take the saucer section which would shortly be undergoing a startling transformation. Rikers's ready room would no longer be just an office, but the bulkhead between it and the briefing room would dematerialize, along with the table. Several stations would appear and people would rush in to assume their positions.

As the last of the civilians transported to _Qan, Enterprise_ prepared herself for battle. Using the ZPM power source, this was much easier to accomplish. First, she strengthened her warp field and structural integrity fields. Then, the transport buffers scanned every crewmember's quarters. Everything in the quarters was dematerialized and stored in permanent memory. Next, the bulkheads disappeared. It was unnecessary to store them as they could be remanufactured through replication technology. The floors between every other deck were also removed, then things started appearing. First, enormous doors were created in the hull, top and bottom, on each side of the saucer, and in the front. Next, a huge tank of fuel appeared on each deck, near the center of the saucer. Row after row of fighters materialized in what had been neatly converted into giant hangar decks throughout the saucer. At the back of the saucer, in front of the engine room, sickbay was expanded to twenty times it's normal size, and five holographic doctors came online, one on each of the floors now being occupied by sickbay. The shuttlebay at the back of the saucer would be used almost exclusively for medical shuttles. The entire floor of the bay became a transporter pad divided into ten thousand segments, a hundred on each side. Each segment could work in concert with others, or separately. Thus, all one had to do with an injured crew member was to get him out of a shuttle and he could be beamed directly to sickbay. At the same time, the shuttle could be beamed out of the shuttle bay into storage elsewhere on the ship, or even into space if necessary. Transport controls were manned by an officer on a balcony above the floor, but were watched over by computer. This was for safety's sake as no one wanted to beam a person into space by accident in the heat of battle. Several non combatants had argued that this transporter floor was a needless waste because the transporters were capable of site to site beaming. It had been pointed out that in battle, every extra expenditure of energy is to be avoided, and site to site transportation was highly inefficient.

Along the outside of _Enterprise_ dozens of new weapon turrets were formed and power connections were made. Along the bow of the _D,_ antimatter charge cannons formed, Dozens encircling the entire saucer and battle section. Pulse phaser turrets came into being, creating a full point defense grid. As well, deep within _Enterprise_ a secondary and tertiary shield buffer was brought online and charged. Lastly, the hull was reinforced with a second layer, and compressed to double its density.

As soon as these changes were made, the crew came to full alert, and started inspecting their consoles and control systems. Pilots climbed into their fighters, and security forces were stationed throughout the ship.

_Wolf 359..._

When _Enterprise_ dropped out of warp, she found herself surrounded by over a thousand ships. Most of the ships were small single person fighters, about three quarters of which were of Iconian design. _Enterprise _split into her saucer and battle section, then _Yomato_ dropped out of warp and scrambled her fighters and split as well. Her commander, Commodore Varley, was doing double duty as he had recently lost his first officer in a failed negotiation with the Tholians. This was not a terrible concern for the upcoming battle, however, as his airwing would ultimately fall under the purview of _Enterprise_.

Picard stood on the bridge of _Enterprise _surveying the fleet. It was truly a strange armada, as it was made up of Starfleet, Vulcan, United Earth, Klingon, Andorian, Tellarite, and several Iconian ships which included Ha'tak, O'Neills, Astreaus, Auroras, and Techno-Hives. Standing out several kilometers away, he even saw a First Federation mining vessel. He glanced at a screen and saw that it was the _Fesarius. _He did a double take as he recognized the name from his great-grandfather's stories. Another look at the screen showed the commander as Balok IV, the great-grandson of Kirk's friend. Fitting, Picard thought.

He had no more time to think about trivial things as Martok reported that the cubes were approaching at high warp.

"Contact Thor, on the _O'Neill,_ and ask him to take those vessels out of warp for us," Picard told his communications officer.

The Asgard vessel fired a blast from it's plasma beam and the five cubes dropped out of warp, one with a gaping hole through it. As Picard watched, however, the cube started repairing itself as it held back and let the other ships protect it. "All ships, this is Picard. Engage." With that the fleet lunged forward, all weapons blazing.

_Enterprise-D2_ darted forward at Martok's command and started tearing into the damaged ship with it's phaser lance, a weapon remarkably similar to the Asgard plasma beam, except for it's fine tuning ability. It followed up with a full spread of torpedoes.

_Enterprise-D1_, under Riker's command, moved off to the relative safety of the sidelines, and was guarded by _Bozeman_ and _Constellation._ Picard was watching from the operations room, keeping an eye on the battle and directing strategies. One of the cubes was inching towards the saucer, as it had detected the communications from Picard directing the battle. When it got close enough, it transported a drone directly into the room. The drone was quickly blasted by a modulating automatic phaser in the ceiling, only to be replaced by two more. Then four until the Borg adapted. Several crewmembers tried to intervene, but found themselves thrown against the far wall and knocked unconscious. Picard grabbed a Bat'leth from the wall and used it to bisect one drone from head to toe, before another grabbed him around the neck, and transported out. Immediately, the cube took flight.

While Picard was being captured, the Enterprise-D1 opened up with phasers and antimatter cannons directed at the cube. However, it was for naught as the cube left before damage could truly set in.

On the other side of the battle, one of the remaining cubes had been blasted to drifting debris by continued plasma fire from _O'Neill. _Another one had been all but destroyed by _Nathan Stark,_ a ship that had remained in service through several battles, much to Janus' delight.

The third and fourth cubes had been torn to shreds by wave after wave of fighters from techno-hives. The ships were incredibly quick, and were able to dodge Borg fire unpredictably. Added to the mix, was the Asgard plasma beams on board the hives. They were able to cut through the Borg shields like butter, but the deciding factor was the phaser cannons. They were able to fire pulse after pulse of modulating phasers, never on the same frequency. There were literally hundreds of such canons on the hives, and there were twelve hives sent by the Iconians. The battle was such that almost the only thing the Federation ships could do was stay out of the way as the field of fire from the Techno hives was so intense. When the hives approached the maximum rate of fire, space between them and the target became so saturated with weapons fire that sensors on both ships became useless. As well, a plasma field would form in the wake of the bolts. At such a point, the hive would need to slow down its rate of fire or risk igniting the plasma field.

The Federation fighters were dodging in and out of the battle right alongside their Iconian counterparts. The hives had been programmed to not hit Federation ships, as well as their own, so a couple of older Miranda class ships were flying similar to the fighters. Everything worked well, until one got too close to a Borg cube and was caught by a tractor beam. The cube, rather than suck the ship into it, flung it towards a rapidly accelerating _Fesarius_, which caught it in it's own tractor beam just in time. It eased it off to the side., then opened fire with a tool designed to rip asteroids to shreds. It caught some pieces of cube that were starting to repair themselves and blew them into microscopic particles.

One of the two cubes being thrashed by the hives decided to try another tack. It started moving unsteadily, but quickly accelerated through the most densely packed section of the battlefield. It acted like a bulldozer, destroying ship after ship with it's own superstructure. Saratoga, one of _D_'s escort ships was caught by the cube and swept aside, it's life support failing. Soon after the collision, its warp core blew. Only thirty people of the three hundred person crew managed to escape in life boats. Another of the ships involved in a collision with the hive was a Ha'tak, commanded by Ishta, a female Jaffa of Teal'c's acquaintance.

Eight of the hives started following, two getting in front of the charging cube, breaking off chunk after chunk, which were quickly vaporized by the fighters. The last section from the center of the cube was blown open, and in it's place was a sphere, much smaller than the original cube. The _Fesarius_ moved to intercept the sphere, and actually rammed the Borg vessel. Both ships were seriously damaged, and as each backed off from the collision, they started repairing themselves.

The collision damaged the sphere enough to where the fighters were able to get close enough to forestall any repairs the Borg might have in mind, and then it was finally blasted to rubble by a well placed shot from _Yomato's_ phaser lance.

One of the Borg cubes was still relatively intact, relatively being the operative word. A massive section of the lower bow sector of the cube was sliced off. As well, massive patches of armor were missing. Three of the techno hives were surrounding it emitting a powerful dampening field suppressing the power systems while at the same time, firing their phaser cannons into the cube. They targeted the power systems and subspace communication arrays. The cube was dead and Iconian techno hives beamed aboard some teams.

"Spread out," Captain Allyson Martin called to the four teams. "Keep in constant contact and your armor sealed."

"Contacts!" a Lieutenant yelled. "Open fire!" Plasma and trinium bullets impacted the Borg drones seconds later. They quickly began adapting to the weapons fire until phaser beams caught them in a crossfire, cutting them down.

"Captain Martin," the massive form of Commander Worf introduced himself. He had been beamed aboard at Riker's order because of his experience with the Borg.

"Commander. Thank you for the assist," she said.

"Interesting armor," he replied.

"Thank you. It's a fourth generation body armor, able to defend against projectile and energy weapons." Worf looked closer and saw a fabric layer completely covered in plates of some kind. The joints had mechanical servos and he guessed correctly that the armor was powered. On both wrists were two different weapons. He had already seen blue plasma bolts and his sensors told him that the other was a phaser emitter.

Worf's musings were cut off when Martin was caught in a grappling match with a Borg. He watched shocked, as she seemed to punch through the drone, its body dissolving in the path of her fist. "My gloves generate an MBD field," she explained. "It's a somewhat scaled down version of our ships main weapons. Plus, I have a gravity field generator to amplify my mass on impact."

She demonstrated the abilities by grabbing a drone that tried to assimilate her and throwing it at a wall. Her gravity generators increased the drones mass without reducing its velocity. Worf was impressed when Allyson reached out her hand and the drone flew back at her. Seconds later it was crushed in what his HUD told him with a massive gravity field.

Worf was not alone in his examination of the others battletech. Allyson took note of Worf's HUD tied into his weapons status and tricorder. She also saw that his traditional klingon armor was actually a very advanced ablative armor that would even be able to resist her plasma repeaters for a time.

She was reminded of stories of Ronan Dex with his concealed weapons as her sensors picked up twelve knives, three phasers, two disruptors, two comm badges, and several other weapons that she didn't recognize on Worf's person.

The battle had ended, but one ship had gotten away, and with it was Picard, flag officer of the Federation. That vessel had to be either destroyed, or Picard had to be removed from it one way or another before the Borg could assimilate him.

The twelve hives were in fair shape after their battle with the cubes. They launched themselves into warp to pursue the remaining cube. _Enterprise_ rejoined its parts, and entered warp as well. The cube was heading towards Earth. Part of the way there, it seemed to falter. It dropped out of warp for a moment, then resumed its journey, at even higher warp. _O'Neill_ was travelling with _Enterprise_ and detected a signal being transmitted by the cube at the same moment it resumed it's speed.

The trip to Earth took almost an hour, and as they exited warp over the planet, it became apparent that two more hives were in orbit. The cube started taking shot after shot, and began breaking up. On board _Enterprise, _Picard materialized on the bridge through a Borg transporter. He had been assimilated, and he grabbed the helm officer by the throat and bodily threw him into the viewscreen. Next, he started toward Riker, who ordered, "Take out that cube now!" over the comm to the other ships. Picard grabbed him by the throat, just as the techno hives blasted the cube into microscopic particles that would be raining down on Earth for several years.

Picard froze, completely immobile as his fingers dug into Riker's throat. Martok grabbed his bat'leth and neatly removed Picards hand from the end of his arm, thereby releasing the fingers. Quickly, sickbay transported him to surgery.

_After the battle…_

Teal'c walked into sickbay on board the _D._ He had transported over as soon as the battle was over. In one area, Picard was being operated on by his doctor, Crusher, but this was not what he was concerned with. He knew very well that Merlin would be alright, so he did not waste his time. He looked around and did not see who he was looking for, so he asked a nurse, who was tending to a Bolian ensign, "Where are the people who were transported from the remains of the Ha'tak?"

"They were transported directly from the shuttle bay to one of the other sickbays," she informed him.

"Which one?"

In response, she directed her voice to the computer. "Computer, beam Master Teal'c to Sickbay Four."

Teal'c watched as his eyesight blurred, and the people in the room around him shifted. Now, he saw several people that he recognized. The holographic doctor was tending to someone in surgery, and the Jaffa Master's breath caught as he realized it was Ishta. Teal'c walked to a spot where he could see the surgeon's progress as he was sealing a wound in the blonde Jaffa's side. From what Teal'c could see, something had probably punctured her left lung.

Teal'c observed the rest of the people in the sickbay, and saw that many were women who had worked and fought alongside Ishta for many years. He started when he heard the holographic doctor speak his name. "Master Teal'c? She will remain unconscious for quite some time, but she will recover fully. You may come back later, or if you would prefer, I'll have a chair placed beside her bed and you can wait there."

Teal'c inclined his head in acceptance, and as the chair materialized, he walked over to the bedside. He reached out and grasped her hand, and sat down. He realized that his eyes were tearing. How close had he come from losing her? He sat in that position for a long time, until he finally realized that she was gazing at him.

"Teal'c," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She tried to sit up, but he placed a restraining hand on her shoulder.

"Do not move, Ishta," he said, his voice tender. "You have been seriously injured, but the doctor has operated and informed me that you will be fine."

Ishta nodded, then asked, "How long have you been here?"

Teal'c was surprised when he realized how much time had passed. "It has been over two hours that you have been out of surgery."

"I see."

"I was quite concerned when I realized that it was your ship that was hit by the cube."

"Concerned, Teal'c?" she asked, a small smile on her face.

"Quite concerned," he said solemnly, but then his face broke into a small smile as well. "I determined that if you were still alive, I would never leave your side again."

"Are you proposing marriage, Teal'c?"

"Yes, Ishta, I am," he said, his smile widening.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note: We do not own Trek, Stargate, or Eureka. Please review!_

_**Chapter 8**_

After a time, things calmed down in Federation space. Picard had been freed of his Borg implants by Crusher and McCoy, and had gone to take a much needed rest in France with his brother's family.

He was sitting in the dining area soon after arriving, reading some notes from Dr. Jackson on Earth's history. He was getting involved in an interesting section which described a vessel crashing into what would eventually be called Puget Sound, near the north end of the future Bainbridge Island, when he heard a boy's voice from behind him. "Hello, Nephew!"

He carefully marked his place in the notebook and set it down. He turned his chair around and smiled broadly at the boy facing him. "Hello, Uncle. How are you today?"

"Im doing fine, Nephew. Father says you got into a pickle in your last battle."

"Well, Uncle. Your father was right. I most definitely was in a pickle, but my crew was able to get me out of it."

Picard's sister-in-law, Marie, came into the room just as her young son was asking, "Can you tell me about it?"

"Rene, let's not bother your uncle with questions right now, ok?"

The boy was ushered out of the room and when his mother re-entered, she apologized. "He's so inquisitive. I suppose that's not a bad thing, but he's not old enough to know when he should and shouldn't ask questions."

"Not to worry, I really don't mind. As a matter of fact, my doctor says I need to talk about it. Explain what it felt like." He chuckled a bit. "I know she has my best interests at heart, but sometimes, she can be so protective…" He broke off, and after a pause, finished lamely, "I'm sorry."

"Now it's your turn to not worry," she laughed.

Later that evening, after dinner, Rene again asked his uncle to tell him what happened. Marie made an abortive attempt to stop the boy, but Picard shook his head at her as the child sat down on the floor facing his uncle.

"You know, Uncle," the Admiral said to his nephew, continuing their running joke, "I have many other stories that would be much more interesting for you to hear."

"Ok, but you must promise to tell my about your latest pickle before you leave."

"Agreed," Picard said. He thought for a moment, then said, "Have I ever told you how your great-great-grandfather once had a visitor made of pure sound on his ship?"

Robert smiled as he heard his brother start one of the stories he had heard over and over from Kirk when he and his brother were children. He wasn't sure he believed the story, but Jean Luc had told him that he once looked up the particulars and found that it was indeed in the official records of _Enterprise_ voyages at Starfleet.

Robert had appreciated Kirk's wit and storytelling ability as a child, but he just wasn't interested in Starfleet. He had listened politely, and as his brother was pulled farther and farther into the fascinating world of space travel, he became more firmly attached to Earth and specifically, France. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate what his great-grandfather had done, or what his brother was now doing. He just didn't see himself as an adventurer. Tending the vineyards was about as wild a time as he personally wanted to have. He tuned back into what Jean Luc was saying, just as he was finishing the story.

"... and Lieutenant Conners said he felt like he had never had such a fluent, musical partner," he finished.

"Is that really true, Nephew?" Rene asked suspiciously.

"On my honor as a Starfleet Admiral, it is, Uncle," Picard told him.

"It's about time for bed, Rene," Marie said.

The boy groaned, but went, muttering about adult conversations as he left the room.

Jean Luc turned to his brother. "He's a wonderful child, Robert."

"Yes, he is," Robert agreed, "and he wants to take after his 'nephew'."

Jean Luc laughed, then sobered. "How do you feel about it?"

"I'm fine. You know, after this latest Borg skirmish, it's not safe at home either. You said they got all the way to Earth orbit before they were destroyed?"

Picard nodded and turned introspective at the thought, and his brother noticed. "I know it's hard for you, Jean Luc, but you can't leave it bottled up inside."

"I know. And I do want to talk about it. They didn't have me for long, but I learned more about them in that hour than I would have ever thought possible." He tapped his head and explained, "I have more information about the Borg up here than I'll be able to go through in my lifetime." He thought for a moment about Merlin, and decided that his statement might not be completely accurate. "What they were intending to do with Earth. It was to become the center for Borg activity in the alpha quadrant. As they were invading my mind, I could sense their plans. They had no reason to hide anything from me as they thought I couldn't fight them." He paused, then said soberly. "They were right. I was transported back to _Enterprise_ and I tried to kill one of my best friends."

"Not you, Jean Luc. It wasn't you who tried to kill Riker. It was the Borg. You were just a tool to them," Robert tried to sooth his younger brother.

"I don't understand something," Marie said. When she saw that both men were looking at her, she continued. "Why do the Borg insist that everyone else must be assimilated? Why don't they leave other people alone?"

Robert looked to Jean Luc. "I'm assuming that misery loves company?" he said.

"Not exactly," the Starfleet officer said. "The Borg are driven by their own relentless sense of perfection. They believe that they will achieve that perfection at some point, and when they do, they will be fulfilled. Because of that, they think that those people that they assimilate against their will will thank them when perfection is achieved. Not that they care about something that they consider to be trivial, like thanks."

"This is what you gleaned from being assimilated yourself?" Robert asked.

"Only a very small part of what I gleaned," Jean Luc answered.

_The Borg..._

On the far side of Cardassian space, ten Borg cubes dropped out of warp. They were exceedingly large ships, each containing several, much smaller Borg craft. These, they launched towards Cardassian space for reconnaissance. They had analyzed the telemetry from the battle at Wolf 359, and had decided that what was needed was to take the home of the techno hives.

As well, the collective sent eighteen cubes to the position of the sphere, now known throughout Federation space as Iconia Prime. They sat outside the effective weapons range of the sphere's main batteries, and fired. With a structure the size of the sphere, it is literally impossible to miss. An enemy has only to drop missiles, and they will hit. To force the Iconians to capitulate, however, the Borg analyzed their targets before shooting. They knew they would inflict large amounts of damage, but it could be repaired once they assimilated it.

Inside the sphere, a supergate was activated. This gate was three times the size of the largest gate the Ori had ever built, even at the height of their power. Once the gate was brought online, asteroids started emerging from it. Once remolecularized, they were caught by tractor beams and compressed into a material much smaller and denser. They were then moved to mass accelerators with three additions to their mass. They had phase generators, naquadah, and potassium added. They were now very effective warheads.

In the mass accelerators, they were fired at seventy five percent light speed. Using a standard Iconian battle tactic, they were immediately placed out of phase with the Borg ships until they passed through the shields. They then returned to normal phase, in time to decimate the superstructure of the cubes. All eighteen Borg vessels were destroyed within moments.

A month later, the Borg attacked again, sending twice as many cubes. As the Federation had predicted, the Borg had adapted to the phasing warheads. This time, however, the mass accelerators were not employed as the primary defense of the sphere. Instead, the techno hives were used. The cubes were not capable of shielding against the millions of different frequencies the hives and sphere used for their phaser cannons. Each cannon was designed to fire at a different frequency, and to never repeat during the course of a battle. Of course, some frequencies were so close together, that once the Borg adapted to one, another several were severely hampered as well, but the sheer volume of bolts which made it through the shields was enough to cause damage. Once damaged, gravity asserted itself, and the cubes started dropping towards the sphere. The deciding factor against the Borg was that the sphere had the power of a star at its disposal for reinforcing shields and firepower. The sphere sustained some damage to it's outer shell, but just as the Borg adapted to each attack against them, Sarah was using the same tactic. Each cell of the sphere had a complete duplicate of the sphere's computer core. This amounted to a hive mind similar to the Borg, without the limitations of biological components. Each of the millions of cells which formed the sphere worked together to defend against the Borg attack, and were able to keep them at bay.

_At Starfleet Command…_

Jean Luc Picard stepped out of the turbolift and strode purposefully toward the detention center. He was being asked to do this because he had been assimilated. Several drones had been found on board the wreckage of the cube that three of the hives had destroyed. However, only one drone had lived long enough to receive medical attention.

Picard met up with Kirk outside the detention area. "Good Morning, Sir," he said, more upbeat than he felt.

Kirk looked suspiciously at his great grandson, then said, "I can guess how you must feel right now, Jean Luc. You don't have to put any airs on for my benefit."

Picard nodded, "No, I don't suppose I do, Admiral. I do not enjoy the thought of doing this, but I understand the necessity."

Kirk smiled slightly and said, "In the unaltered universe, your grandfather was killed by Klingons when he was in his late twenties. We didn't know that he had had a daughter, or the relationship between you and me. Several years after David's death, I was conscripted into hosting the Klingons for peace negotiations between the Empire and the Federation.

"For you, your individualism was stripped away, for however short a time, and your own knowledge was taken by the Borg to be used against the Federation, and you are now being asked to interrogate one of those Borg drones. I can imagine you feel somewhat like I did in the other universe, playing host to those who had taken so much from me."

Kirk's words gave rise to questions in Picard's mind about what his great grandfather remembered of his life in the alternate reality. He filed those away in his mind for later discussion, and simply nodded in acknowledgement of Kirk's speculation on his feelings. Then he asked, "Before I go in there, Admiral, what are my limits? How much can I offer her?"

"Bones and Crusher have already removed most of her implants. My understanding is that 82% of them were able to be removed. Both doctors agree that to try to remove more would seriously undermine her ability to function properly. As to what you can offer her, and what you can do, I'm leaving that entirely up to you, Jean Luc. You have complete control in this project, and what you decide will be the end of it. If you think she will be unresponsive, then on your decision, she will be transferred to a penal colony for the rest of her natural life."

"I see," Picard said. He regarded his great grandfather a few moments, then asked, "Permission to speak freely, Sir?"

Kirk's eyebrows went up, as Picard rarely asked for such a concession, but he nodded.

"I have no idea what will happen when I enter that room, Sir. The drone may respond to 'Locutus', as my Borg designation was to be, or it may know very well that I am not a Borg. However, I honestly believe that there is little to be gained by questioning this drone. I will do what you ask, Sir, but I want you to understand that I believe it to be a lost cause."

Kirk nodded, "But you will do your best, Jean Luc. That's why I'm glad it's you who are the logical choice to go in that room. Because rather than just giving it a token try, you will give a real one."

"Certainly. While I think it to be a lost cause, I understand that I could be wrong, so I will give it every chance to succeed."

Kirk smiled and gestured to the door. "Shall we?"

Picard held up his hand, "Sir, if I am to have complete freedom in this project, I believe the best possible chance of this working will require that I enter this room alone."

Kirk was taken aback, but he did not argue. "Very well. I leave it in your capable hands, Jean Luc."

With that, he smiled graciously and turned to head back to his office. Picard turned to face the door, pulled his shirt down to remove the wrinkles, and typed in his authorization code to open the door.

It parted, revealing the cells beyond. He stepped through and saw that the only prisoner in this cell block was the borg drone. He turned to the guard and ordered, "Wait outside."

The guard faltered for a moment, but he read Picard's rank and knew that he had full discretion in this matter, as well as the Commander of Starfleet's ear and bloodline. He didn't argue, but simply took up a position outside the cell block and shut the door.

Picard stepped up to the active force field. The girl standing inside had extremely short, blonde hair. It appeared as though it had just started growing again, after who knows how long of being suppressed. There were several skin grafts on various parts of her body, and she was covered with a hospital gown. Her left eye had a patch over it so that the optic nerves had a chance to regenerate. She was seated at the foot of the bed, facing away from him.

" You are but a child ," he said crisply. She turned to face him, and stood unsteadily.

"Locutus," she said, her voice flat and unemotional. "This drone's implants have been removed, so it did not sense you standing there."

"I too have had implants removed," he said to her. "I am unable to contact the collective. What can you tell me of the collective plans for returning here?"

"This drone does not understand," she said, somewhat confused. "You were connected to the collective when this drone went offline. You have more current information."

"When my cortical node was removed, part of my memory storage was damaged. I do not have the required information."

"The memory storage of this drone is not damaged, but the information only extends to the moment it went offline in the battle. No more information from the collective exists past that point. There are several individual memories unconnected to the collective, but they are irrelevant."

"They are not irrelevant, because when you rejoin the collective, your individual memories will become part of the collective."

"That is illogical," the drone replied. "When an individual is assimilated, the memories remaining are irrelevant. This drone's individual memories since it's disconnect from the collective are irrelevant. If you believe differently, perhaps there was more damage to your memory storage than you at first believed."

"You are incorrect," Picard said. "Locutus was made to facilitate the assimilation of many individual minds in the Federation. Obviously the collective sees the memories and experiences of an individual as important. Because of that, I understand how an individual's memories and experiences can affect the collective. I am setting a task for you while you are disconnected from the collective. You are to record your experiences as an individual and analyze them. We will discuss them each day to place them in their proper perspective. Is that understood?"

"Understood, Locutus."

"For the duration," Picard continued, "you shall refer to yourself as 'I' and 'me' instead of 'this unit'. Your body is that of a young female human. To help facilitate you in your task, you shall use the human terms associated with individuality for such a body."

"I understand, Locutus," she acknowledged.

"The Federation needs to perceive the collective as not destroying all that they believe themselves to be. As such, you will use your human name, as well. Your body was originally known as Annika Hansen. You will use that designation for the duration."

"Acknowledged," she said. "How will I acquire information to assist you if I am to remain here?"

He thought fast. "Acquire information in this detention center. The restriction of freedom is something the Borg must understand from an individual's point of view."

"Acknowledged," she said again.

"I will return to speak to you this evening."

"Acknowledged."

Several minutes later, Picard was back on _D_, talking with Beverly Crusher in her office. "I knew it would be difficult, but I was not aware just how much. That girl has been a Borg since she was a small child. She had not even been removed from her maturation chamber! I was a Borg for close to an hour. How am I supposed to relate to her at all?"

"I don't know, Jean Luc. I wish I could help…" Her voice trailed off.

He reach out and took her hand. "Beverly, what is wrong?"

She didn't answer for a long moment. "I took the opportunity to have my annual physical while we were here. Doctor Selar ran the tests twice." She paused for a moment, then plunged on. "I have the beginnings of Irumodic Syndrome. It's not effecting me right now, but it will eventually. I won't be able to keep my position much longer."

"Irumodic Syndrome? But I thought that was something that only affected the elderly," he exclaimed.

"Before the augment virus, it was primarily a disease of the elderly, but studies are now showing that people are five times as likely to develop the syndrome, and it seems to be striking much earlier in life as well."

"I see," he said. His mind was swimming as he thought through all the things he had supposed he would do with this woman, but later, after they both had good, long careers in Starfleet. Now, he realized that this would not be the case. He knew that later in life, he would become Q, and would have the ability to heal Beverly. He wondered about the morals of such an intervention and whether he had that right. Of course, in Beverly's life, how many people had she healed with her skills? He decided that healing someone was one thing, but bringing them back to life after they had been dead for many years was another. That being the case, when he thought about the time he would have, the billions of years he would live, but be alone he realized that this was a quandary that he could not solve for now.

The next day, he stepped into Beverly's office to find her packing. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm packing, Jean Luc. I've resigned my commission. I'm not going to be able to function as the chief medical officer of the _Enterprise-D_. I figured I'd opt for the change now, when I realize what I'm doing."

"Beverly," he began and stopped. He looked out at Sickbay, then at her again, then he sat down heavily. "Beverly," he started again and stopped.

She put one finger on his lips, then leaned in to kiss him. He was shocked at her action, but it gave him resolve. "I love you, Beverly," he said when they separated. "I would be willing to resign my commission and spend our remaining time with you."

She nodded, "I know you would, Jean Luc, but you have an incredible career ahead in Starfleet. You belong here."

"Would you consider remaining here, on Enterprise, as my wife?" He saw the look in her eyes, and said, "This is not pity, Beverly. I always expected that we would have time, later in life. Now I find that this is not to be, and I realize that…" he faltered and stopped.

She was looking closely at his face. There were tears in his eyes, and she knew what he wanted to say. "I love you too, Jean Luc," she said as the tears started to fall from her own eyes. "I always have."

"Then stop packing, Beverly," he urged. "Let's spend the remaining time together."

She considered for a long moment. She knew he was being honest when he denied that his statements were borne of pity. He was too honorable a man for that. She looked into his eyes and saw how urgently he wanted her to remain. "Alright," she said. "I'll stay."

He sighed with relief. "Then I can tell Riker that you're not leaving," he said raising his hand to tap his communicator.

"No," she said. "I'll stay with you, but I don't think I should be practicing medicine anymore. It's a hard decision, Jean Luc, but I would need to be supervised at all times, and I don't think I would like that very much."

He turned and nodded, understanding her decision. Then he took her in a protective embrace. It was an embrace that lasted for a very long time.

The next morning, he went to see the borg. She was slowly becoming acclimated to being referred to as Annika Hansen, or Miss Hansen, but each time he used her name, he saw a tiny twitch in her facial muscles. It wasn't much, but he was getting to know her well enough to see it. "How are you today, Annika?" he asked as he strode into the detention area.

"I am… well," she said, struggling to use the human term. She had at her beck and call the language of Federation Standard, but she found it imprecise. 'Well' as an adjective describing her condition left too many variables. "Locutus," she said, curious about his feelings on the subject. "I find the human method of communication to be inexact. To say I am 'well' does not convey the actual condition of my physical and mental makeup."

"That is true, Annika, however among humans that are not part of the collective, this wording is used for convenience sake. While among the collective, a drone's condition may be conveyed exactly in a matter of nanoseconds through the link, to attempt to convey the same information verbally would take several hours, and the individual may not even know their exact condition. This is not practical for most situations one might find oneself in, therefore, the term 'well' is used to indicate that the individual is functioning adequately to take part in most activities, including general conversation."

After his talk with Annika, Picard returned to _D_. Over dinner with Beverly, he explained his conversations with the Borg drone. "Each time she makes a discovery that we take for granted as individuals, it seems as though it comes easier," he told her. "She is like a child that is constantly asking questions. Why is the sky blue? Why does a hot stove burn my finger? But with her, she knows the scientific answers. What she constantly needs answers to are the social questions. Why do you people fall in love? What can be discerned about your mood when your voice shakes. These are the same questions that a human child would learn by observation of people. It plainly shows the limitations of the Borg collective."

"I agree, Jean Luc, that the Borg collective is limited, but wouldn't they see the limitations you are pointing out as strengths?"

"Yes, they do, and that is their greatest limitation. They do not understand what they are missing." He paused and his expression grew somber. "But for the life of me, at this moment I cannot see how we can use that against them."

She nodded. "While it's a huge limitation, it doesn't seem like a liability, does it?" She paused for a long moment. "Has Will found a replacement for me yet?"

He took a deep breath and then sighed. He had been dreading her asking this question. "Yes," he acknowledged. "Dr. Allison Carter. She's been studying with Starfleet medical, under Admiral McCoy for quite some time. She's an Iconian, and I understand Bones recommends her highly."

She giggled a bit as she said, "I don't think I've ever heard anyone call Doctor McCoy 'Bones' except Admiral Kirk."

"I have known the good Doctor since I was knee high to a grasshopper," he laughed. "I used to hear my great-grandfather tell stories of how they first met. He was 'Bones' to the Admiral from the very beginning of their friendship. I only started calling him by his name when I joined Starfleet."

"It must have been exciting growing up at the Admiral's knee, hearing the stories of the glory days of Starfleet," she said, teasing him somewhat, but also genuinely admiring of the way he had been raised. "Regarding Doctor Carter, I know her quite well. We worked together on the Klingon / Vulcan hybridization project."

"Hybridization project?" Picard asked.

"It's an idea that some Klingon scientists originally came up with. A couple of Vulcan healers came on board, and then it hit starfleet medical. Interestingly, Vulcan and Klingon DNA is quite compatible and since they share the same world, it was thought that a full blending would help them to become one people."

"Surely they aren't injecting Klingon DNA into Vulcans and vice versa," Picard said, shocked. He couldn't imagine a Klingon allowing that to be done.

"Oh no," she said. "Whenever two different species procreate, there are inherent problems that crop up. Sometimes things go without a hitch, but usually, DNA has to be manipulated a bit. What we're trying to do is minimize the hitches and hiccups. In several years, there would be enough blending of the DNA that the problems would be so far apart as to not matter. We're just helping things along in that regard."

"So you are helping infinite diversity diversify," he commented.

"Exactly!"


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: We do not own Trek, Eureka, or Stargate. We are just fans. Please review!_

_**Chapter 9**_

With their defeat at Iconia Prime, the Borg regrouped outside Cardassian space, and began focusing their attention on the Cardassian Empire and Ferengi Alliance. They were actually able to assimilate a fair amount of both races.

The Federation kept a wary eye on their activities, and offered their assistance to both races. The Ferengi at first refused, but as Captain Data surmised, someone must have found a way to turn a profit from the assistance, and the Alliance came running.

The Cardassians, however, refused all Federation overtures of assistance, claiming rather that they would fight their own battles, thank you very much.

_D_ was assigned to the Cardassian border, keeping a careful eye on Borg activity with long range sensors. Her battle group was present as well. _Qan_ was a few light years away, watching a different sector of Cardassian space, while also taking readings on a neutron star in the vicinity, while _Bozeman_, _Saratoga_, and _Constellation_ made a very public show of patrolling the border.

"Incoming message, Captain," Worf announced. He had recently been promoted to _D's _Battle Captain. Martok had been promoted to Commodore, and placed in charge of a purely battle fleet, headed by _bortaS_. In his wing, he had five Klingon designed destroyers, which were kept in a constant state of readiness by practicing tactics, much like Terran attack submarines during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

"Onscreen," Riker ordered. He stood and pulled down his uniform top automatically. Seeing the seal of Starfleet appear on the screen, Riker tapped his comm badge and said, "Admiral Picard to the Bridge."

"Captain Riker," Kirk said from the screen as his image appeared there. "How are things on the Cardassian Border?"

"Extremely quiet, Admiral," Riker said, smiling. He turned to the lift as Picard stepped onto the bridge.

"Well, there's a very good chance we can liven things up for you a bit. How'd you like to engage in a search?"

Picard and Riker glanced at each other, and Picard said slowly, "I take it, Admiral, that what we are to search for is quite important?"

"Yes, Jean Luc, it is. I'd like you to swing by Iconia Prime where you will be joined by the _O'Neill_ and the _Daniel Jackson._ Your escort will remain on station, and Thor will brief you on your search after you leave Iconia Prime." He paused before continuing. "This is top priority, gentlemen. I know that sounds strange for a search, but it's of the utmost importance."

When _Enterprise-D_ arrived at Iconia Prime, _O'Neill_ and _Daniel Jackson_ were waiting for them. _D _had just dropped to Sublight when _O'Neill_ signalled that they were ready to leave. They transmitted the course to _D_ and all three ships jumped to warp. Once they were on their way, Thor, Jack O'Neill, Sam, Jackson, Vala, Jack Carter and Teal'c transported to the _D._ A couple of minutes later, Eli and the twins transported aboard from the _Daniel Jackson_. The group met with Picard, Riker, Allison, and Worf in the briefing room just off the bridge.

Picard was seated with Riker and Worf at the head of the table. The rest of the group was seated around the table. O'Neill took the initiative and explained, "We are going to a planet on the edge of Romulan space. There, we are going to meet up with an old friend. He's going to help us out…"

"He's being compelled to help us out," Jackson said under his breath.

"But he _will_ help us out, Daniel. Don't be such a pessimist. That's my job." He turned back to Picard. "Sam has some interesting information, and with the Borg threat, we thought having _Avalon_ back would be a good thing."

"What is _Avalon_?" Riker asked.

"Daniel, help me out here. I never could do a lecture like this."

"Sure, Jack." Daniel stood up and motioned to the monitor on the wall.. With a thought, he placed an image of the ship there. "Visuals, Jack. You need good visuals." We walked to the monitor and indicated what, for all intents and purposes, was a Starfleet space station.

"This is _Avalon_," he said. "It is a station, but it contains a warp drive, Alteran hyperdrive, and some of the most advanced weaponry you're likely to see in a long time."

"A station with a warp drive?" Riker asked.

"It's not just a normal station, Captain," Allison said smiling.

"No," Jackson said. He looked at the screen, and a scale appeared beside the station. It was a dot until the image zoomed in to show _D_ in detail. It then zoomed out again to show all of _Avalon_. "The station is capable of housing two complete city ships within it's spacedock area. You can actually fly Atlantis through the space doors."

Picard looked at the twins seated smugly across the table from him. "Why do I get the impression that you two are responsible for this?"

"We may have had a wee bit to do with it," Scotty said.

"Maybe somewhat more than a wee bit," LaForge corrected.

"What kind of warp drive is capable of moving that thing?" Riker asked.

"The warp drive is pretty big, alright," LaForge said, "But there's a lot more to her than just a massive power plant."

"When the rest of the Iconians left our timeline, _Avalon_ got… misplaced." Jackson said lamely. "Sam tracked it for quite a ways, so the Q left on Iconia Prime had a pretty good idea where it had gone, but Sam lost it because of the fluctuations in the powers of the Q."

"By the time we realized how much power we had lost, it was too far gone to follow, since we couldn't enter hyperspace," she explained, "plus Merlin told us that it would be alright. I know it was travelling somewhat in the general direction of the center of the galaxy, but the center of the galaxy is a pretty big place."

"That much is certain," Worf agreed. "So how is this 'old friend' going to help?"

"It turns out that some of our people were separated in time from the general populace when our ships came forward in time. Harry Mayborne, an old acquaintance… Perhaps friend just isn't the right word. Harry Mayborne became a trader in your time. He goes by the name of Harry Mudd now," O'Neill explained

"Harry Mudd is an Iconian?" Picard asked, incredulous.

"Unfortunately," Teal'c said with a grimace.

"He knows better than to cross me," O'Neill said, reassuringly.

"He knew better than to cross Admiral Kirk too, but he continued to try," Picard said, reminding everyone of Mudd's character.

"Yes," Jackson said, "But Admiral Kirk wasn't a Q at the time he was dealing with Harry."

"That is true," Picard said. "So how can Harry help us? Surely if he knew the whereabouts of _Avalon_, the sky would be the limit for his price."

"Yes, it would. He doesn't know, so far as we can determine, but he does know his way around Urrobafv, which is a popular watering hole for smugglers and traders on Narvasam, the planet we are headed to," Jackson told him.

"So you are hoping to find someone in Urrobafv who will be able to tell you where _Avalon_ is? That seems like something they wouldn't want to be sharing."

"We're hoping that we might find someone who can tell stories that might point us in the proper direction," Jack Carter explained.

"You're basing your finding _Avalon_ on stories and myths?" Riker asked, incredulous.

"That's how we found Atlantis," Jackson pointed out.

"If we had _Avalon_, it would go a long way towards defeating the Borg," Sam said.

"Why do you need our help in finding it," Picard wanted to know.

"You know this time period," Thor said simply.

"So does Mudd," Worf growled.

"Yes, but we trust you," O'Neill said smiling.

"Admiral," Scotty said, "We also have a few more trinkets for _D_."

"What have you got in mind?"

"We have a complete Asgard computer core, substantially miniaturized, but capable of the same things as the core on either the _O'Neill _or _Daniel Jackson,_" Thor said.

"I understand that your science officer past away recently," Samantha added. "We have an experienced Asgard exchange officer who would like to offer his services in that regard. He served for several years on board the Terran ship, _Deadalus_, before the Iconian Alliance came into being."

Picard turned to Riker. "That's your call, Will. If you want to give it a try, I'll support you."

"I think it would be a wonderful idea. Dr. Carter has been working out great and I think an Iconian science officer would be equally as valuable," Riker stated.

"Just to let you know, Captain Riker, Hermiod can be… well… Hard to get along with at first," Sam stated.

"Lassy," Scotty said dryly, "you've said a mouthful there!"

Later, Hermiod and his computer system were beamed to _Enterprise_ from the _Daniel Jackson_. He was an impressive figure of two meters, and an air of self confidence that almost permeated the air around him. He immediately went about networking the core with the multitronic unit on board _Enterprise_.

While they were en route, Thor requested a sparring match with Worf. He had been training with Cameron Mitchell in the fighting style of the Sodan warriors. As well, he had studied with Eli, learning the fighting style of Bantos. He had seen Worf fighting with Teal'c, and the fact that he had held his own against the Jaffa made him wonder how long he himself would last against the Klingon. When he had his cloned body, he would never have even tried to learn a fighting style. Now, he was actively trying to live up to the legend he had cultivated among the humans on any number of worlds throughout the galaxy.

The Klingon graciously accepted the challenge. Most older Starfleet vessels had holodecks, but on _D_ it was decided to make quarters larger, and put a small holosuite into each cabin. Thus, the living area of each stateroom was fully configurable through holotechnology. Each crew member could have whatever environment they chose to live in. These holosuites could be linked to each other, allowing crew members to interact within a program. At the appointed time, Thor entered one of the guest staterooms and started it's holosuite. He found himself standing in the Roman Coliseum on Earth, and as he looked around, Worf appeared on the other side of the arena. The stands were beginning to fill up and Thor was amused to see that many of the Enterprise crew chose to wear traditional Roman garb. The two combatants strode to the center of the arena and saluted each other. "It is an honor to face you, Worf," Thor said.

Worf nodded, then answered, "Very few people get to face Thor, the god of thunder in battle. The honor is mine." They then turned to face the Emperor's Box. Picard was seated there, along with Riker. They were both wearing their Federation dress uniforms, but beside Picard, Beverly Crusher was wearing flowing Roman garments. Riker's wife, Deanna, was similarly attired.

Worf and Thor saluted the four in the box, then faced each other. At Picard's shouted, "Begin!" they started circling each other. For some time, neither seemed willing to start the fight, then, as if at some unspoken signal, both swung their weapons. Worf's heavy bat' leth came crashing down on Thor's only slightly lighter Viking sword. Thor was ready, however, and his hammer was in his other hand. He swung it, and Worf's armored arm came up to deflect the blow. The sound from the impact was deafening, and before the echo could die away, Worf had swung his bat'leth again, one handed. He swung around in a complete circle, letting the centrifugal force carry the blade out in a deadly arc. Thor bent backwards, letting the blade of the Klingon weapon take a bit of his beard off, but managing to come away otherwise unscathed. He knew the Klingon had anticipated connecting with, if nothing else, his sword, and took the opportunity created by Worf having to stop the blade to swing his own upward. The Klingon's heavy arm was again directly in the path of the Viking sword, and sparks flashed as the blade contacted the metal of Worf's armor.

The fight continued for some time, with neither gaining an upper hand. Worf's early move, leaving himself open to attack was not repeated. It seemed as though he had done it deliberately, testing the Asgard. Now, however, he showed his skill and matched the huge viking blow for blow.

After a time, though, Worf took a chance, and it paid off. Up till now, he had been fighting in a generally defensive style. Now, he took an advantage that he suspected might be a trap. He was ready for the possibility, and when the trap was sprung, he was prepared. He deflected Thor's deadly blow, and at the same time, reached in and grabbed the Viking's forearm. He pulled Thor into him, and onto his blade. The fight was over in an instant. As the two combatants were not in the same physical room, the sword that would have killed the Asgard had they been, was phased out by the holosuite safety protocols.

Thor looked down at the Bat'leth apparently sticking through his chest, threw back his head and laughed. "Excellent, Worf! I concede the fight to you!"

Worf nodded, and withdrew his blade. Then he smiled. The adrenaline had been running through him, and he was panting, but as he calmed, he saluted the Asgard in the Klingon style. "It was an honor, Thor. You are a formidable warrior, and I salute you."

It was then that the two registered the cheers. They turned and faced the crowd, and as they listened to what the crowd was screaming, they heard just as many people shouting for Thor as were shouting for the Klingon.

In the Emperor's box, Riker was cheering for both of the combatants, but secretly, he was quite happy that Worf had won. Not that he didn't like the Asgard. Actually, over the last nine years, he had grown quite fond of him, but the Asgard science officer had not made a favorable impression with him. The Starfleet captain had no doubts that Hermiod was highly intelligent, and would be an asset to the ship, but for him to actually tell Riker that he had looked over _D_'s record and he knew that he would improve the science department… Riker was very glad that the Asgard had been taken down a mark by the Klingon.

Picard was on his way to his quarters, accompanied by Beverly, when his head started to spin, and he nearly collapsed. Beverly helped to steady him, and he leaned against a bulkhead. His vision blurred and he saw a man's face. The man had white hair, and a scar, and he spread his arms wide as he seemed to welcome a wall of energy descending on him from the sky.

Then, Picard was standing watching his nephew approaching him. His nephew that somehow, though he stood before him, was dead in this time line. Then he saw his great-grandfather chopping wood, but they didn't know each other. Certainly, Picard knew him by reputation, but Kirk didn't know him at all.

Suddenly, Picard was back on _D_, with a worried Beverly looking at his face anxiously. A medical crew was approaching, and Picard tried to wave them off, but another wave of dizziness hit him and he slumped against the wall again. He felt himself being lifted but all he could see were images of his life that wasn't his. He saw Beverly, Riker, Data and Worf playing poker at the same table over and over. Worf dressed as a sheriff of the ancient west... Data sitting beside him in some kind of dune buggy closing a box on his own face... He saw himself with professor Galen's former student, Vash. She was dressed in old English clothing while he was dressed in Lincoln Green... Worf claiming not to be a merry man... Riker looking at him from the Enterprise bridge with a blonde woman as his first officer... The images were assaulting with not a break between them.

Dimly, he realized that he was being lifted onto a diagnostic bed in sickbay, and that Dr. Carter was leaning over him, examining him, but he kept seeing images from another life. After several minutes, the dizziness ended and he was able to sit up.

"Can you tell me what happened, Admiral?" Allison asked.

He was pretty sure he understood what had just transpired, but whether she would believe him was another thing, but then again, given who her husband was, she just might. "I was seeing things happen in my life that have never happened to me, as if I was living through another version of myself's life."

"Well, I can't find anything wrong with you, Admiral," Allison declared. As he started to rise, she placed a hand on his chest to keep him there. "That's not to say there's nothing wrong with you, Sir. I think you should rest here."

"Doctor, I assure you I will be ok. Dr. Crusher will be with me if there are any more episodes like what I've just experienced."

Allison looked at Beverly, but before she could say anything the intercom beeped and Riker's voice came over it. "Doctor Jackson is on his way to sickbay, Doctor." Before Riker could finish, there was a flash by the entrance to sickbay and Daniel Jackson was standing there.

"Hello, Allison, Dr. Crusher, Admiral Picard. I think I can probably shed some light on what has happened to you, sir."

Picard propped himself up on his elbows, while Beverly rushed to get him some pillows. "I am _not_ sick," he declared as she placed them behind him. "As a matter of fact, I believe I shall never be again, am I correct, Dr. Jackson?"

"Well," he said, "There are illnesses that affect the Q, but they are very specialized, and exceedingly rare."

"So I'm right. I've become Q now."

"Yes, Sir. Because you have passed the time in the original time line when you became Q, you are now Q in this timeline as well."

"Explain," Picard ordered crisply.

"A Q's creation is a fixed point in time, so since the Picard from the original reality has been in the nexus, you are a Q as well. You are seeing things from your perspective in the other timeline, and your mind is merging them together."

"I think I would like some time to absorb this. Would you excuse me as I go to my quarters for some rest?"

"Certainly, Sir," Jackson said. He had expected as much.

Beverly started to accompany him, but stopped. "Do you want me to stay here, Jean Luc?"

He shook his head. "If you don't mind acting as a sounding board for my feelings on this matter, I would appreciate your company, Beverly."

She smiled and took his elbow, and they left sickbay together.

There was a flash right after the door closed, and Jack Carter was standing beside Allison. "Well, how'd it go?"

"If you were monitoring, why do you need to ask?" Allison asked him, playfully punching him in the side.

"I wasn't monitoring. When Daniel and I left the _O'Neill_, I just made sure I'd appear after Picard left the room."

"It was what I expected," Daniel answered, looking at the door Picard had left through. "You arrived about three minutes after I did. He left to think about things right after I confirmed what had happened."

_In Picard's cabin…_

Picard was seated on one of the armchairs in his cabin. Across from him, Beverly was on a sofa. In front of Picard was a tray with two cups of tea and a teapot. Beverly reached out and picked her cup up as he explained what he had seen. "It was fascinating. I saw my life completely different. Most of the same people were here, but Wesley was an acting ensign, Data was our ops officer, and Martok was high chancellor of the Klingon Empire."

"Martok? You know, now that you say that, I can imagine it. He'd be a good chancellor."

"Yes," Picard replied. "I believe he would."

"What you're describing, Jean Luc, about seeing things from a lifetime that you haven't lived… I had a dream about that awhile back."

"Really?" he asked. "When?"

"Right after I tested positive for Irumodic Syndrome. You don't think…" Her voice trailed off.

"You were never in the Nexus, Beverly."

"You weren't in this timeline either, Jean Luc."

"Have you run the tests for Irumodic syndrome again?"

"No, I haven't. Computer," she ordered crisply.

"Working," it responded immediately.

"Run a scan for Irumodic syndrome on my body."

"That type of computer access requires level…"

"Computer," Picard ordered, "on my authority, run the scan."

"Acknowledged," the computer said. "There are no abnormalities in the brain of Beverly Crusher which are consistent with irumodic syndrome."

Beverly started to order another scan, but stopped. She looked at Picard who ordered, "Computer, you will grant Beverly Crusher all medical access on my authority to continue indefinitely."

"Acknowledged," The computer replied.

Beverly smiled and grasped Picard's hand across the table. "Computer, compare my last scan which showed irumodic syndrome with the scan you just made. Explain the differences."

"In your last scan, irumodic syndrome was a certainty. The structures in your brain that would cause the problem are no longer present in the new scan."

"Why?" Picard asked.

"Unknown," the computer answered.

Picard looked around the room. "I can sense a Q here, other than us." At his use of the term us, Beverly's head snapped towards him. "Come out, please."

There was a flash of light and Janus was standing in the room. He came over and sat down, uninvited in another armchair at the coffee table. A cup of tea appeared, and he picked it up.

"Janus," Picard fumed. "Why am I not surprised that it's you who is here?"

"Because we have a connection between us, all three of us in fact," Janus answered.

Picard sighed. "Alright, Janus. Answer me this: Is Beverly Q?"

"Yes, Jean Luc. She is."

"How?"

"You made her a Q, mon Capitan. You have to ask?"

"You're a few ranks out of date, Janus," Beverly pointed out. "Jean Luc hasn't been a Captain for quite some time."

"I know, but 'Mon Capitan' just has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"No," Beverly said. "I think Jean Luc deserves his rank, and you're disrespecting him is getting tiring."

Surprisingly, Janus became serious. "Very well. I am sorry for all the disrespect I've shown you over the years, Admiral. You didn't deserve it, and I was wrong."

Picard snorted as he said, "I'm sorry, Janus. I know you have supposedly changed from the person who tormented us for so long, but I find it hard to believe."

"I understand, Admiral. What can I say to show you that I have actually changed?"

"Perhaps explaining why you tormented him would go a long way."

Janus eyed Beverly, and shook his head. "I get the feeling that you probably wouldn't believe me if I were to tell you."

"Try me," Picard said sternly.

"Very well, Jean Luc, but don't say I didn't warn you. I know your response will be, 'Absolutely not!' You see, much of what I told you about the Q in the past, was not true. I have told you we were omnipotent and omniscient. We're not."

"Obviously, because if the Q were omniscient, you would have understood humans much better than you have."

"True, although in my own defense, I must say that I actually do understand humans better than I let on."

"So," Picard said, cutting him off, "in saying that you weren't truthful, you haven't told me anything I didn't already know."

Janus smiled, then said, "No, I didn't. The fact is, Jean Luc, that most Q have not always been Q. In fact, very few of us are born this way."

"So you used to be human?" Picard asked, skeptical.

"Oh, no. I was born Q, as was one of my sisters, however, our parents were not born Q," he said, looking back and forth between the two.

Picard eyed him for a moment, then suddenly realized what Janus was getting at. "No, absolutely not! I will not believe it! I am not your father!"

"You see," Q said almost gleefully, "I knew that would be your reaction!" He sobered then and said, "Denying it will not change what is true, Jean Luc."

"If you're my son, why would you torment the _Enterprise_ all these years?"

"Isn't it obvious? I rebelled! I got tired of your pompous, sanctimonious, self-righteous arrogance, and I decided to teach you a lesson! I always felt that you treated me in such a way that if I didn't behave like a little you, I was wrong! Wesley and Maribor were always treated with respect, but I never got any from you!"

"Who is Maribor?" Beverly asked.

"Wesley's and my sister. Well… Wesley's half sister. The point is, I wasn't a military man. I was a scientist and your son, but I felt like I was treated as one of your crew, and the lowliest of them at that! You went from one command to another then another and you never treated me like a son. The sad thing is, this will all happen again. This is your future, but it is my past. If you could change it, I know that you would, but it's not up to you. The one who needs to be able to change it is me, but I can't because I can't change my past. Not even a Q can do that."

Picard's mouth was hanging open. He slowly looked at Beverly, and she nodded.

"Jean Luc. I may be falling into a clever trap that he's laid, but I think he may be telling the truth."

"Commander!" Picard shouted. "Can you hear me?" _Enterprise_ was under radio silence, so he didn't dare call Starfleet, but he felt like Janus was telling the truth, and he wanted to be sure. He had been fooled by this individual before, and a trap like this one was right up his alley.

Kirk didn't appear, but all three in the room heard his voice. "Yes, Jean Luc?"

"You know what Janus has been saying. He claims that Beverly and I are his parents. Is what he is saying true?"

Instead of answering Picard, Kirk's voice challenged Janus. "Why did you tell them this? Now when you are born, they will be constantly second guessing their parenting. They will be constantly wondering if, when they discipline you this time, will this be what causes you to rebel!"

Before Janus could respond, however, Spock flashed into being. But this Spock was obviously much older than Kirk's first officer and friend, and something about him made him seem considerably wiser than Spock Prime. "It's alright, Jim," he said quietly. "I can deal with this." The ancient Vulcan turned to Janus. "I understand your wish to tell your parents about this. To confront them with the way you still feel.

"You have been disciplined for your actions, and while you have changed, you still feel the pain you always have. Only time will heal those wounds, Janus. Your parents have done," he paused and looked at Picard and Beverly, "will do all they can to raise you in the best way possible. By your own admission, you feel that your sister was treated differently, yet she also rebelled.

"Consider: a wise person once said that raising a child is the one job that, by the time you are good at it, you retire. In the case of a person who bears the amount of responsibility that your father always has, children often take a back seat to other things. This is unfortunate, because a child doesn't understand the burdens his parents carry." Spock walked up and put his hand on Janus' shoulder. "My father was an ambassador, Janus. I felt very much as you do, and I was Vulcan. Logic should have informed me that my father was doing the best he could, but I was a child first, before Vulcan. I longed for the love of my father. In a way, my counterpart from this time line had it better than I did, for when my mother was killed in this reality, my father saw the necessity to bond with me more than he had in the past. I suddenly had my father's attention."

Janus' head was hanging, and there were tears coming from his eyes. He looked up and blinked his eyes several times, looking from his mother to his father and back again. "I wanted attention. I only got it when I acted against your wishes.. I got it when I tormented you." He looked away, then at the Vulcan Q. "I really have changed, First. I'm not the brat I was when I was tormenting them. But you're right, I still feel like I don't have the respect I wanted all those years ago." He looked at Picard before continuing. "And it's my fault too. I know that. You're just starting out. To you, I haven't even been born, but you know what I'll be when I grow up." He hung his head and shook it, then he looked up at Beverly. "You don't even know about the dog…" He cut off as he realized the dangerous look in her eyes. It was one he knew well from growing up with her as his mother.

"Yes. I. Do." she said icily. "And if you want to live to be another year older, young man, you had better NEVER do anything like that again, do I make myself clear?"

Janus' voice had failed him. He simply nodded his head, his eyes wide.

Picard was quite impressed by Beverly's handling of Janus, and decided he wanted to ask her about the incident... later.


	10. Chapter 10

_Standard Disclaimer. We don't own Trek, Eureka, or Stargate. _

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**_Chapter 10_**

The three ships emerged from warp on the back side of the Narvasam sun and immediately cloaked. They established orbits over the planet which would keep them out of the general flow of traffic. Since they were cloaked, they didn't want someone stumbling upon them the hard way.

Once they were in orbit, another ship emerged from warp and assumed a standard equatorial orbit. It was a small trading vessel, not big enough to carry large cargos. This vessel would only be large enough for a trader to make a decent living for himself and nothing more. At the controls was a man well known by both the people who had once worked at the SGC, and the Federation. Harcourt Fenton Mudd, or Harry Mayborne, whichever name he was using, was also known on this world. He had frequented it before he had been sent to prison. Narvasam was well off the normal trade routes, but still had much to offer, primarily items that were not entirely legal on the major worlds of the galaxy.

A fifth vessel cane into orbit, but this one was much larger, and like the three in the convoy, cloaked. It signalled the convoy, and the commander identified himself as John Sheppard, of the _Nathan Stark_.

After gaining permission to land, Mudd's vessel started dropping out of orbit. After lighting up the sky as it burnt off speed, it set a course for Urrobafv, the largest city on the planet. It set down in a public spaceport, and the gangway dropped from under the ship. It touched the rock ground with a clang. Harry strode down the ramp, followed by O'Neill, Teal'c, and Picard. All were dressed in leather and fur trader's garb. They stopped at the single door out of the port. An Orion man demanded rudely to see their papers.

"I don't need papers here," Mudd told him, just as rudely. "Everyone on this planet knows Leo Walsh!"

O'Neill looked appraisingly at Mudd. Before getting off the ship, the trader had said to just play along with whatever was said, but O'Neill had figured Harry would use his correct name. Or one of them, anyway.

"I saw the news when you were sent to jail, Mudd!" the Orion was in his face. "Your name is Harcourt Fenton Mudd! Not Leo Francis Walsh. You've been lying since I met you, and you come here, almost a century later, expecting to let bygones be bygones? You've got some gall!"

"Now hold on a moment," Harry said, stopping only when he found himself looking cross-eyed at a phaser being held against his nose.

"Why should I, Mudd?"

"Because my hold is full of dilithium crystals," he said, "Cases and cases of them."

The Orion finally took notice of the three other men. O'Neill nodded and shrugged. "It's true."

Slowly the phaser dropped, and the Orion's face broke into a grin. "Leo, old friend we got off on the wrong foot. Let's go into the pub and talk about it, ok?" He placed a huge green arm around the trader's shoulders and escorted him towards the loud establishment across the street, gesturing for the other men to follow. Picard and O'Neill looked at each other and shrugged. Teal'c simply placed a beatific smile on his face and they followed behind the laughing trader and his burly Orion buddy.

After the Orion was ditched, something which took Harry a couple of hours to do, the four met back at the ship. It had taken some doing to get the Orion to allow them to leave. After Harry had explained that his three companions were the owners of the dilithium and he was only providing a buyer and transport the Orion had focused his attentions on them in an effort to lower their asking price.

Much to the Orion's chagrin, however, they started circulating around the bar, ostensibly to widen their sales base for dilithium, but actually, to see if they could pick up on someone who might have stories to tell about a massive station drifting through space. When they met back at the ship later, they compared notes. Teal'c had heard a legend told by an old man outside the pub. He was speaking to some children, telling of his glory days as a freighter captain. Apparently, he had heard of some pictures of a massive mushroom shaped vessel as it coasted through the system millennia ago. The pictures had been painted on the walls of a cave centuries before the civilization developed space flight. Teal'c asked the old captain if he knew where the caves were, but he didn't. For a modest amount of latinum, however, he told the Jaffa many more legends of the mushroom shaped vessel, but Teal'c suspected that many had been made up on the spur of the moment, in an effort to obtain even more latinum.

Picard had interesting news too. He had learned of a system with a dead world in it. Dead, except for an automated outpost. The energy signature from the outpost was consistent with a naquadah power source, and strangely, there seemed to be no other structures on the planet.

On the way back to Mudd's ship, they again met up with the Orion. He moved out of a dark alley as they were approaching the docks. In his hand was the phaser, pointed at the four.

"What is this?" Picard asked angrily as the group stopped.

"I want my dilithium," the Orion said flatly.

"As I recall," Picard said patiently, "you did not pay us for it."

"That is of little consequence," stated the Orion, "as I am the one holding the phaser."

"It would seem that you are the one in charge," Picard said, "but in my experience, things aren't always as they seem."

As he spoke, an ominous whine started emanating from the phaser. The green skinned being's eyes widened, then bulged as he tried to stop the overload. The dial, however, stubbornly refused to turn.

"Isn't that a shame," O'Neill said as the Orion struggled to shut off the bomb in his hand. "Here he thinks he's got us, and then his phaser goes and does that." Their assailant was now trying to throw the phaser, but he couldn't get his fingers to release it. He kept flinging his arm wildly, but his hand had other ideas.

The four stepped calmly by him, and into the dock. The phaser's whine stopped its furious pitch, and started to calm down. The poor Orion was still trying to pitch it as far from his body as he could, and resembled a man trying to fend off a furious swarm of wasps.

Mudd tuned a scanner in on the Orion as they rose above the walls of the spaceport, and the four watched him still trying to throw the now docile phaser, to no avail.

"How long are you gonna make him hold onto it?" O'Neill asked Picard as the Orion started running, as if that would put distance between him and the phaser still gripped tightly in his hand.

"Oh, I set the phaser to overload and I fully expected him to throw it. I had nothing to do with his inability to let go of it," Picard answered.

Everyone in the ship turned to Teal'c, who simply shrugged and said, "I suspected that a bomb that he could not get rid of would occupy his thoughts much more effectively than our fictitious dilithium."

"We're out of his range now, Teal'c," Harry stated.

"Indeed," Teal'c responded as he sat back in his seat and folded his arms.

The other three turned back to the scanner that showed the Orion curled up in a fetal position against a wall, the phaser still stuck in his hand. He was convulsing as if crying. Finally, his hand released and the phaser dropped to the ground. He didn't seem to notice.

"Well, one thing's certain," Harry said as they achieved orbit. The other three looked inquiringly at him, and he explained, "I'm not going to try to cross you."

_In the Enterprise Briefing Room..._

The four sat in the briefing room along with Sam, Daniel and Vala, Riker, Worf, Hermiod and Thor. While they were waiting for the last couple of people to arrive, Mudd regaled the group with an animated imitation of the Orion trying to throw the overloading phaser. Finally, Janus entered with the newly assigned assistant science officer, Wesley Crusher. Picard watched carefully as they entered together. Wesley had not been on _Enterprise _while it had dealt with the Q in the past, and was not aware that the powerful being was actually his half brother. The newly commissioned ensign had been raised almost as a son by Picard for much of his life, and he felt very protective of the young man. Janus sat down across from Wesley, and Picard felt somewhat disconcerted seeing him, sitting as an active participant in the briefing, rather than an uninvited party crasher, flashing in and creating chaos.

As _Enterprise_ was his ship, Riker addressed the group first. "Thank you all for coming. We have received information regarding a planet that we suspect is an Iconian holding from before the time jump. Hermiod has studied the information Admiral Picard has brought back, and I'll let him explain what he has found."

The Asgard stood. He seemed to be a conflict, standing there at six foot six, muscles rippling, yet his voice was somewhat high pitched, and he would never dream of hefting a weapon, other than his mind. "Admiral Picard has told me that his informant on Narvasam accurately described an energy signature from a Naquadah power supply coming from the single installation on this planet. It seems likely, that this was an Iconian outpost, as the Federation has no record of any other culture using Naquadah as a power source."

"But dilithium is the same as Naquadah, just the crystalline form," Wesley Crusher interjected.

"That is not entirely true, Mr. Crusher," Hermiod corrected, as if speaking to a child. "Dilithium and Naquadah have the same chemical numbers, but they are hardly the same. The crystalline form does not produce it's own power. It merely enhances what power is sent through it. It focuses it, if you will. Metallic Naquadah is capable of producing it's own power, through radiation. Because of the unique properties of this radiation, it is rather easy to spot a Naquadah power source."

"This doesn't make sense, though," Jack Carter said. "We beamed every reactor up from all of our planets before the end. We didn't want our technology falling into enemy hands."

"Not that our tech would have made any difference to the Ori," O'Neill said ruefully.

"True, but we didn't leave anything behind," Carter persisted.

"Yes we did," his sister said quietly. "We left two reactors behind."

"Where?" Carter asked, exasperated.

"We left a couple of reactors on Earth to power the defense installation."

Her words left everyone silent for a long moment. "You think this dead world may be your Earth?" Picard asked.

"It certainly fits, Sir," she said. "I mean, let's look at the facts. A dead world. Our Earth had been razed by the Ori. There wasn't any vegetation left behind. Even the oceans had been boiled dry and the water vapor chemically mixed with other elements to create a toxic atmosphere. The cities, towns and farmlands had all been reduced to bedrock. The planet was a cemetery. A monument to those we had lost. We left one installation to keep others away."

Picard was silent. Finally in a voice that was almost a whisper, he said. "I'm sorry, Doctor O'Neill. I wasn't aware of the level of destruction."

"That's ok, Sir. It's been a long time, but there were lots of friends who died there."

He nodded his understanding, then Riker asked Jack O'Neill to explain what they should expect to find at the installation.

"If this is actually our Earth we can expect the defense installation to fire on _Enterprise._ It won't fire on any of our vessels, however. What will happen to _Enterprise_ is that the probes will deposit a virus in her central computers, which will try to override their programming. Hermiod's Asgard core connected to the multitronic system will offer some measure of protection. The best defense, however, will be to transport down one of the only two people in the universe who can make the installation stand down."

"Who are they?" Riker asked.

"Daniel Jackson and Jean Luc Picard," Thor answered.

"How can the Admiral stop it?" Wesley wanted to know.

Again, Hermiod took the initiative to answer. "The core is programmed to respond only to the mental arrangement of Merlin and Daniel Jackson as they are the Iconian Chancellor and Vice Chancellor, respectively. By keying it in this way, no one, not even another Q, can turn off the probes."

"What is the command?" Picard asked.

"The system uses a virtual intelligence, Admiral," Sam answered. "All you have to do is tell it to not fire."

"Admiral," Riker stated. "Regulations state that you shouldn't beam down to a potentially hostile situation."

Picard started to nod, then thought better of it. "I appreciate your concern, Captain, but I very seriously doubt that I'm in any danger there."

Riker started to speak, but then stopped. "Of course you're not, Sir."

"And, it seems that Dr. Jackson and myself are the only two people who can stop this from attacking the _Enterprise. _It seems to me that one of us must beam down. Besides. I have to admit that I have a great curiosity as to what we'll find down there."

Riker nodded. He was frustrated because he had always sheltered Picard from beaming down to the surface of planets in potentially harmful situations. Now, as a Q, Picard had absolutely no need for protection. If anything, Picard would now be the logical person to keep Riker out of harms way.

_In Picard's Quarters…_

That evening, Picard was relaxing with Beverly, sipping tea, and chatting in the sitting area of his quarters. The door chime sounded, and he announced, "Come!" There was a flash of light, and Daniel Jackson and Vala appeared by the door. Picard was amused that the flashing into his quarters of Q didn't seem to annoy him anymore. Instead, he motioned for them to have a seat.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" he asked them after they were seated.

"We need to speak with you regarding a new member of your crew," Daniel told them.

"Amanda Rogers," Vala filled in the name.

"Ah," Picard exhaled. "I saw a picture of her parents in the news some time ago. If I'm not mistaken, they were Jack and Samantha O'Neill. So Amanda is Q, isn't she?"

"Well, that's what we're not sure of. You see, she's the first child born to Q parents since the end of the Ori war. We're not sure how the fracturing of reality will affect her. She might be Q, she might not.," Daniel explained.

"So you want me to find out?" Picard asked. "How would I do that?"

"Well Admiral, the best way to discover if she's Q is to observe her," Daniel answered. "See if she displays any telekinesis. See if she conjures anything out of nothing. See if she relocates herself."

"But what would be the chances she would display any of these abilities where I would be able to observe?"

"Not very good," Vala said.

"Precisely, which is why I think the best way to see if she has displayed any of these talents is to ask her," Picard declared.

"Or you could do that," Daniel said, matter-of-factly. "But what if she doesn't want to tell us?"

"Then I would say that we are no worse off than now," Beverly interjected.

Daniel didn't speak for a couple of moments, and Vala finally answered for him, "That seems to be a logical conclusion." She looked at Daniel who was glowering at her. "Doesn't it?"

"The problem with that is that she will then be on her guard," he stated.

"That is true," Picard agreed, "she will be much more self conscious. However, she cannot hide from us forever."

Daniel nodded. "I agree, but there's a lot more at stake right now than just whether or not Amanda Rogers is personally Q. We need to know whether or not a child, born of two Q on a physical level in this point in time, is a Q. We just don't know how the merged realities will affect that." He looked both of them in the eye before continuing. "Normally, we wouldn't be concerned about this at all, but we'd really like to know about the future of our species."

Beverly stood. "Well, I don't see any reason to simply sit here talking about it. That is accomplishing very little." She held out her hand to Picard, and asked, "Shall we go?"

He took her hand, and as he stood, asked, "Where are we going?"

"We are going, my dear Jean Luc, to ask her if she is Q."

Picard looked at the still seated Jackson with raised eyebrows, as he allowed Beverly to steer him toward the door. Jackson looked at Vala who had a wicked grin on her face as she stood to follow. Jackson had no choice but to follow.

_Later…_

After everyone had left, Picard was sitting alone, thinking about what had been said. He knew that Jackson was being truthful. In fact, Picard didn't even consider the possibility of Daniel and Vala lying. But there was still something that Picard was bothered by. Something from his other lifetime that he wanted explained. To that end, he flashed to the continuum.

In his mind, he arranged his surroundings to be comfortable to him. He knew that any other Q would be perceiving their surroundings in whatever way they wished. What Picard saw, however, was an archaeological dig. He was wearing tan trousers, shirt, and a fedora. Looking around, he saw that he was in ancient Egypt, and was observing a giant ring being stood up, several hundred feet from him.

He sensed a presence beside him, and spoke. "First."

The serene man, wearing clothing similar to his own, glanced at him. "Admiral. It is good to see you again."

"Thank you, Sir. I would ask you a few questions."

"And I will do my best to answer."

They watched as the stargate was stood up fully. Picard had never seen the ring before, but he had desired to see this scene since he had met the Iconians and heard of their development. Once it was standing, they began to walk, circling the dig.

"In the original timeline, Janus showed up when we were taking on a young Amanda Rogers. He took on the responsibility of training her in the use of her powers. While I don't agree with his methods, shouldn't new Q be trained in the use of their powers?"

The First stopped and turned to face the human Q. "I agree, Admiral. As a matter of fact, after this, all new Q are required to be trained. You and I will, quite literally, be the only Q who discovered how to use their powers on their own."

"Why only you and I?"

"I became Q after I travelled back in time. Being drawn through the singularity changed me forever. Because I was pulled through first, the continuum was linked to me. I was the first Q. While that was many years ago in your time, no Q have been formed since then. You are the Second."

"I have only become Q recently. Beverly has actually been a Q longer than I have. For that matter, so has Amanda Rogers." Spock raised an inquiring eyebrow at Picard's statement. Picard nodded as he said, "She confirmed that she has, in fact, special powers that she has never understood."

"Fascinating, however, it does not change the fact that you are The Second."

"How can that be?"

"Admiral, consider that you are Janus' father, and Beverly Crusher, whom you have not married yet, but are planning to, is his mother. You have no children together yet, however, Janus has plagued your existence for quite some time. He has been your nemesis for many years. Logically, he becomes a Q after you do since he is your son . Chronological order on the physical plane has little to do with who becomes Q first."

Picard considered for a long moment. Finally he nodded, then asked, "So am I to understand that you and I are the ones who train the rest of the people in the use of their powers?"

"That is correct, Admiral."

"Well, then, I suppose I had better get acquainted with what we are capable of."

The Vulcan did not quite smile.

Back on board Enterprise, Picard stopped in at his charge's quarters. Annika was seated on a sofa, looking at the PADD in her hand. Over the past six weeks, she had been reading all the literature stored in Enterprise' computers. Within reason. Picard saw no need to allow her access to technical specifications of Federation ships, or even history books, detailing the development of the Federation. Instead, she had been allowed to read that fiction which did not have historical references in it. She stood when she saw him. "Admiral," she said as she nodded a greeting.

"Hello, Annika," he said seating himself on the sofa. He was not one to invade someone else's mind, however, in this instance he had no choice. And he doubted that, given her desire to rejoin with the collective, she would mind. Regardless of what he thought her reaction would be, he still made the touch as light as possible, and was somewhat surprised to find the mind of Annika, the human, still intact. He made a slightly bolder touch that went deeper. He could feel her mind crying out at the pain the Borg had caused. He could feel the last independent thoughts of countless minds that they had assimilated, screaming for justice. He wondered how her own mind would deal with these final thoughts, or if it even could. He could feel the tendrils of the years of collective control, and was tempted to simply erase it, but that would be an invasion that he could not justify. Instead, he lightly touched her top level, conscious thoughts. Here, he found that Annika, the human, was still very much in control. There was a part of her that wanted desperately to return to the collective, but there was another part of her that never wanted to be a Borg again. At present, it was difficult to tell which side would win out, and Picard would have hated to lay odds for either side. "How has your reading been going?" he asked.

"It is difficult to understand humor," she said. "I have been reading the collected works from a periodical called _Field and Stream_, published in New York City throughout the twentieth and twenty first century. In one story, the author seemed to pride himself in causing inclement weather whenever he and his best friend planned extended excursions outdoors.

Picard was unfamiliar with the reference, so quickly absorbed the literature she had been reading. "I see," he said chuckling. "The type of stories you are referring to derives it's humor from over the top situations. The author really did not cause bad weather whenever he went camping or hunting. In reality, he probably had no worse luck regarding weather than anyone else, but those trips where he encountered storms stuck in his mind. He knew that the times other people had encountered the same type of weather stuck in their minds as well, and by amplifying his own bad luck, he was able to allow his readers to laugh at theirs."

"So you are saying that he used his writing as a psychological tool."

"Correct. People took comfort in the idea that there was someone who had worse luck than them."

"So they were laughing at him?" she asked. "I thought individuals did not like being laughed at."

"Human beings do not like being laughed at in a situation they do not control. However, if they control the situation, they control other people's reactions, and that is power to some people."

She was very confused now. "Do I understand that this is a psychological manipulation?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," he conceded, "but unlike other types of manipulation, this is for the simple pleasure of making other people happy. You see, many types of manipulation are for the gain of the manipulator. This type gives him some gratification, certainly, but mostly it is for the gratification of the audience."

She nodded, but seemed somewhat unconvinced. "I shall have to do more reading keeping this in mind, then."

He nodded and stood. "Very good," he told her. "I shall be back to see how you are progressing tomorrow, then."

"Thank you, Admiral," she said, nodding.


	11. Chapter 11

_Standard Disclaimer: We don't own Star Trek, Eureka, Stargate, or Battlestar Galactica. Nor do we own Dr. Who._

**_Chapter 11_**

The ships settled into orbit around a barren rock of a planet. As predicted, the defense system did not fire on the Iconian vessels. Picard and Daniel were beamed down to the control room by the _O'Neill_. When they had beamed down, Picard looked to Jackson for confirmation. There were tears in the vice-chancellor's eyes as he gazed around him.

"I was the last person to leave," he said, almost absently. "There was nothing left. No living organism on the planet - not even bacteria."

"We need to shut down the defense system, Daniel," Picard said softly.

Daniel looked back at Picard and nodded. "Computer, shut down the defense systems."

"I am sensing Merlin in the control room as well as Daniel Jackson," the computer stated. "Does Merlin concur?"

"Affirmative," Picard answered. "Shut it down."

"Hullo," a voice said from behind them. They whirled and incredibly, saw a man in a dark blue, pin-striped suit standing there. He was quite young, and peeking around him was a young, blonde woman. She was waving to them. "It's wonderful to see you!" the man exclaimed, quickly stepping forward and grasping their hands in turn, pumping them vigorously. "I'm John Smith, and this is my wife, Rose!"

Picard looked Smith up and down, and noted that he was wearing red tennis shoes with his suit.

"How did you get in here?" Jackson asked, incredulous.

"Yes… Well… My ship crashed on the surface, and we spotted this building in the distance. Walked here. The computer was nice enough to open the door and let us in."

"Why would it do that?" Jackson asked, suspicious. "It is only supposed to allow Iconians in, and I don't recognize either of you as Iconians."

"I read through the manifest of Iconians also, and I don't recognize either of you either," Picard agreed.

"Now that is strange, isn't it," Smith said, looking around the room. He walked over to the control panels and touched one.

"Please don't touch those," Daniel asked, stepping forward quickly.

"Why not?" the stranger asked. "I'm just opening a gateway."

"I know you are. That's the problem."

"Why?"

Jackson took a deep breath. "Look, I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but this is very sensitive equipment."

"I know," Smith agreed. "There's something you need to see, though."

"And what's that?" Jackson challenged.

"You're Iconians, right? You've somehow come into the future from the far past. I've been doing some calculations about subspace, hyperspace, normal space… I think you'll want to see what I've found"

"What do you know about hyperspace?" Picard asked the strange man.

Smith looked penetratingly at Picard for several seconds before saying, "I know that it kept the powers of the Q from working for a long time."

"What do you know of the Q?" Picard asked carefully.

"I know that you both are Q. You are Merlin, and he is Daniel Jackson."

"How do you know that?" Jackson asked as he was preparing to defend himself from this strange man. He reached out to Picard, and found that he was not alone in his misgivings.

"The station's database, of course," Smith said, a massive grin on his face.

Both Picard and Jackson gave a great sigh of relief at that piece of information, but remained wary. "I don't understand how you could have gotten into the database. The only way to get even extremely limited access should be if you were listed in it," Jackson argued.

"Nope," Smith said, lightheartedly. "Pretty sure I'm not there. Just so you know, I can get into just about any computer with this," he said, holding up a strange instrument about the size of a pen.

"What is that?" Picard asked.

"Sonic screwdriver. Very useful for lots of stuff."

"A screwdriver?" Jackson asked. You broke into this computer with a screwdriver?"

"A _sonic_ screwdriver," Rose corrected, speaking for the first time since saying hello.

"Ok. You broke into this computer with a _sonic_ screwdriver?"

"Yes... Well, No... Well, Sort of," Smith said. Jackson simply looked at Picard, who shook his head unbelievingly.

"Obviously, you got into the computer, but I don't think that's the important point," Picard said mildly. "I'm curious as to what your calculations are, Mr. Smith."

"Doctor, please."

"Doctor Smith, then," Picard sighed.

"No, just Doctor."

Picard's patience was failing fast, but he held his temper in check and tried once more. "Alright, _Doctor_. What calculations have you made?"

Smith smiled broadly. "Well. We've been taking some measurements on different worlds. Awhile back, I noticed that travel through subspace was messing with normal space."

"Yes. We know about that," Picard said. "Our scientists found the same thing a few years ago."

"Great!" Smith exclaimed. "But you see, that didn't make sense to me, because I knew there was another way to travel, and if you added hyperspace into the equation..."

What he was saying suddenly made sense to Picard. "Our scientists didn't know about hyperspace travel," he breathed. "Their equations weren't correct because they made assumptions that were incorrect."

Smith turned to Rose. "I told you he was a brilliant man!". Turning back to Picard and Jackson, he said, "there's no way any equation about subspace would be entirely correct without taking into account hyperspace."

"But we've travelled in subspace literally for centuries."

"Yes, you have. Your equations will let you do that to a degree, but you won't be able to do it properly because of the missing part of the equation. How to explain this... Ah! Being a door isn't the same thing as being a window, is it?"

"No," Jackson said warily.

"Precisely!". He saw the blank look on everyone's face, even Rose's. "Maybe that wasn't the best analogy. A color blind person can still see, right?"

"I think I understand," Picard said.

"I understand how Jack must have felt all those times, because I still don't get it," Daniel stated.

"A color blind person can see," Picard explained, "just not as many colors as someone who isn't color blind. It's similar for us. We can travel through subspace, but not to the extent we could if we had all of the equations."

"Exactly!" The Doctor said.

"So the damage to normal space hasn't been understood completely either?" Jackson asked.

"What damage to normal space?"

"You mentioned it just a moment ago. You said, 'travel through subspace was messing with normal space.'"

"Yes, but I didn't say anything about damage," Smith said defensively.

"You don't think space is being damaged? You feel that something else is happening?" Daniel persisted.

"When something has been broken for a long time, repairs sometimes are mistaken as damage," Smith said cryptically.

Before any more conversation could occur, they were interrupted by Picard's communicator chirping, and Riker's voice coming through it. "Riker to Admiral Picard. Has the problem of the probes been taken care of?"

Guiltily, Picard reached up and tapped his communicator badge. "Affirmative, Captain." He turned to Jackson. "I think it would be beneficial to continue this discussion on _Enterprise_ with the the twins, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, and getting Sam and Thor in on the conversation would be good too," Daniel said.

"Agreed," Picard said, then he addressed the Doctor: "Mr…. Doctor," he corrected himself, "would you care to transport up to my flagship with us?"

The Doctor seemed to weigh his options, then suddenly looked up at Picard, an enormous smile on his face. "That would be brilliant! I'd love to!"

Picard reached up and tapped his comm badge. "Picard to Enterprise. Four to beam up."

Riker glanced back at Worf, who growled. "Four, Sir?" Riker asked.

"That's correct, Captain."

"Acknowledged." He stood up. "You have the bridge, Mr. Hawke," he said to the helm officer, as he left the bridge. He wanted to see who was beaming up with the Admiral.

_The Enterprise Transporter Room..._

As Riker strode into the transporter room, the four had just finished materializing. Normally, the transporter operator would have waited until Riker arrived, but one did not keep the Admiral in charge of the fleet waiting. The two people were an odd sight. They seemed to be dressed two to three hundred years out of date, rather like some of the Iconians seemed to dress. He had recently met Kevin and Claudia, Dr. Carter's son and daughter-in-law. This woman's clothing seemed to be of a similar style, but somewhat less gothic. As well, her hair was uniformly blonde instead of multiple colors, but the feeling was of the same era, however. The man was something different entirely. He was in a blue pin-striped suit and tie, with red and white tennis shoes.

Picard stepped off the transporter pad and introduced the couple. "This is Doctor John Smith and his wife, Rose." He indicated Riker, "And this is Captain William Riker, commander of the Enterprise."

"Just call me Doctor, Captain," Smith said, holding his hand out.

"Captain," Picard said, "would you please request that the twins come over here, as well as Samantha O'Neill and Thor? Have them meet us in the briefing room, and you join us as well. You will want to hear what the Doctor has to say."

_Later that evening…_

Callister, Eli, and Kevin Blake had beamed down to the outpost and replaced the ZPM. Callister sat in the control chair directly below the gateroom, to review the logs of the automated facility. For the benefit of Eli and Kevin, he allowed the digital signal to be played aloud. Kevin had the unique ability to listen to such a signal, and derive emotions from it. Eli, on the other hand, could listen, and, with the help of the nanites in his body, understand it. As it played, all three were motionless.

Suddenly, however, Kevin tensed up. "Something was found and lost again."

"Yeah," Eli agreed. "The outpost sensed a mining ship of Iconian design, but it lost the signal."

Callister focused the playback onto the mining ship. "They found it again!," Kevin exclaimed quickly.

"It wasn't found exactly," Eli corrected, "but the computers recorded it crashing."

"Did you catch the coordinates of the planet it crashed on?" Callister asked.

Eli turned a look on Callister which seemed incredulous that such a question would be asked.

"I was just wondering, Eli," the android said in defense.

"Hey!" Kevin said as he felt the mood change in the playback. "Guys! There's something happening and I'm not sure what it is."

Eli directed his attention back to the signal, and Callister asked it to replay what had just happened. Kevin was right. The outpost had detected _Avalon_ coasting through space, but as it got out of range, the signal faded.

After the three reviewed the logs, Thor transported the entire outpost building into _O'Neill's_ hold. The probe storage and launch facility was dematerialized and stored in the computer core of the _Daniel Jackson_ while _Enterprise_ brought the three satellites into her cargo holds.

After this was done, the ships left orbit and started in the direction of the class Y planet where the mining ship crashed.

While in interstellar space, _O'Neill_ picked up a strange energy signature from another star system. It was of a similar type of energy as both Dilithium and Naquadah, though slightly different from both. Thor consulted with the Federation people, and even asked the Doctor if he had ever seen anything like it. "Well, since you're asking me, I'm guessing you're not including Naquadah and Dilithium, because they're both like it, and I've seen them. It's not trilithium, or Naquadria, as I'm sure you already noticed. My guess is that it's a derivative of the same Naquadah molecule." He paused for dramatic effect. "I'd check it out."

Thor did not want to stop the search for _Avalon_ but considering that the power source they had scanned was apparently closely related to Naquadah, and was powerful enough to be scanned this far from the system it was in, he was willing to concede that it would be a good idea. As well Picard pointed out, "Se aren't stopping the search, just postponing it for a short time."

As they approached the system, Wesley Crusher watched the distinct signal on his scanner. It did not change. The signal remained strong. He did some rough calculations, and figured that the power source, whatever it was, seemed to be in between the output of metallic naquadah and liquid naquadah.

_In orbit of the planet..._

When they got into orbit around the planet, Crusher was able to get enough detail from his scans to see that whatever it was seemed to be a somewhat under-refined version of liquid naquadah. He reported his findings to Hermiod, the head of the science division. "An under-refined version of liquid naquadah? That seems highly unlikely, young man."

"I realize that, Sir, but look at the readings for yourself. The chemical makeup seems identical to liquid naquadah, but there are a number of impurities in it."

The Asgard looked at the readings for a long moment. He knew that Crusher held two doctorates: one in physics, and one in chemistry. He also knew that this young man was treated by Admiral Picard as a son. But what made Hermiod's decision to allow Wesley to report his findings personally was the fact that next to the twins of this time period, he was the best engineer around. He watched as Crusher walked up to Riker to make a report. The young scientist reminded him of himself for some reason. He supposed it was because Crusher wanted to make a name for himself. He wanted to be taken seriously by adults, even though he was still in his early twenties.

"Sir, we have some conclusions about the power source on this planet," Crusher said, importantly.

"Alright, Mr. Crusher. What have you discovered?"

"It's liquid naquadah, Sir."

"Liquid naquadah? Here?" Riker seemed somewhat disbelieving, and glanced back at Hermiod, who nodded. "How did it get here?"

"Unknown, Sir. We can't determine that from orbit. There is a single lifesign on the surface near the naquadah, however. It's hard to distinguish, but it's definitely there."

"Alright, Mr. Crusher. You'll head up a landing party comprised of yourself, Dr. Carter and two more scientists, plus a security detail."

"Me, Sir?" Crusher almost squeaked out the question in his surprise. "I've never led a landing party, Sir."

"Don't you think you can handle it, Mr. Crusher?" Riker asked, an edge to his voice.

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir. I can handle it," was the hasty reply.

"Good. Dismissed then."

Crusher turned and left the bridge, headed back to his labs. He wasn't sure who he wanted exactly, but he would set up a decent team. He had to show Riker that he knew what he was doing.

_On the Planet's surface…_

The landing party materialized on a flat plane. There were rock formations all around, and in one of them, the entrance to a cave. One of the security guards, Laura Cadman, indicated the mouth of the cave with her tricorder. "In there," she mouthed.

Cadman was an Iconian. When the cultural exchange programs became a reality with the Federation, she was one of the first in line. She wanted to learn how the Federation managed security. She had recently started the Klingon training on _Enterprise_, and was getting pretty decent with a bat'leth.

She took the lead as they entered the cave, with Crusher and Carter on either side of her. As they got closer, Crusher motioned for caution. The liquid naqhadah readings were getting very strong, as well as the human lifesigns. Cadman motioned for her fellow security guard to take up positions with the other scientists guarding the entrance. She then crept forward, keeping her charges behind her. They rounded a corner and they saw a human male seated on the ground beside some sort of metallic robot. It appeared as though the human was making an adjustment inside it's back. The man looked up when he saw their lights and darted towards a holstered weapon beside him.

"Don't!" Cadman ordered.

The man stopped just short of the holster. "Oh, Frack!" he exclaimed.

"Hands on your head, and then carefully, stand up and kick the weapon this way, then move over to that wall." She motioned towards a wall to her right.

Very slowly, making no unnecessary movements, he complied. The holster only moved a couple of inches on the ground, and the robot turned it's head to look at it. The man noticed, and said, "No, Cy. I've got a feeling this lady is pretty good with her weapons. That popgun she's holding looks like it could do a lot of damage to you, and I just got your power flow straightened out."

The robot responded in a flat monotone, "I will comply for now, Karl." Since it had turned to face the Federation people, they could see that its face was not designed to look like a human face, but like a helmet of some kind. Where the eyes should have been was a single red light moving back and forth in a slit in the helmet.

Crusher excitedly said, "The power supply is all around us. The lights, the robot, the sidearms. They're all powered by liquid naquadah!"

Doctor Carter had her medical tricorder out and was scanning the human. She frowned as the instrument told her of multiple injuries to the man's body. She turned to Cadman. "I can't help him from here."

"Go ahead, Doctor," Cadman said, adjusting the phaser in her hand.

"You know," the man said, "I'm not a threat. I was just working on Cy there when you came in. You just took me by surprise."

"Then how come you went for your sidearm?" Cadman asked.

"Well, if you look at it from my point of view, I'm sitting at home, minding my own business, when military people come in, brandishing weapons. I'd say you'd probably react in a less than stellar fashion too."

"That may well be," Cadman conceded, the phaser not wavering a millimeter, "but I think I'll keep this in my hand for now, just to be sure."

"That's fine," the man said, taking it in stride.

Carter was running her sensors over the man, and spoke up now. "What happened to you? I'm showing several injuries that have healed, but they appear to be impact sustained." She looked up from her scanner. "Did you crash here?"

"Look," said the man, "We haven't been introduced. My name is Karl. Karl Thrace. Usually, however, I go by my call sign, which is Starbuck, so why don't you just call me that."

"Very well, Mr. Thrace," she said, easily avoiding the invitation for first name familiarity. "Did you crash here?"

He was hoping to get the name of this very attractive doctor who was ministering to his injuries, but for the moment he recognized that he was shot down. He sighed, "Yes, I crashed here after my viper had taken some damage."

"Well, you healed up pretty well, but you have some metal lodged near your spine. If you move wrong, you could end up paralyzed," Allison explained. She turned to Cadman. "We need to get him to _Enterprise_ now. That fragment needs to be removed as soon as possible."

Cadman nodded and contacted the ship. "Cadman to _Enterprise_. Three to beam directly to sickbay." She noted Allison's nod of approval, and before she was transported, she told Wesley to keep an eye on the robot.

Once the three had transported, Crusher turned to the robot. "So your name is Cy?"

"That is correct."

"What is your function?" Crusher asked as he knelt down to study the robot's open back panel.

"I am a cylon centurion. I was created to help fight the war against humans. When the raider I was assigned to crashed on this world, Karl reassembled me from the parts of the three centurions on the ship. Since then, my function has been unclear other than friendship for Karl."

Wesley gently closed the back of the cylon and moved to where he could face it. The statement that the cylon had been created to fight humans disturbed the scientist, but the fact that it was clearly a friend to the human here made him want to ask more questions. "Do you desire to go back to your previous post?"

"If I were to do that, I would be forced to fight humans again. Perhaps, I would be required to kill Karl at sometime in the future. That is undesirable."

"So what will your function be then?"

"I am Karl's friend. He is mine. His movement has been limited by his injuries. I have helped him as he helped me."

"If Dr. Carter helps to heal his injuries, will that destroy your function."

" I do not believe that to be the case. I have found that humans never have enough friends , and even if he does not need my help physically, he will still need my friendship."

Wesley smiled at that. "That's true, Cy." He was studying his tricorder which was showing a readout of current flow in the cylon. It was truly complicated "How long can you last on your power supply without it being replaced, Cy?"

"According to my memory banks, a power supply can last for many years," Cy replied. "Obviously, the more sophisticated the Cylon, the more power is drawn. A Command Centurion in the field will last for approximately half the time of a standard centurion such as me."

"What about one not in the field?" Wesley wanted to know.

"A Command Centurion aboard a Base Star does not engage in as much physical activity, therefore they do not use as much power. The reason that a Command Centurion in the field uses so much power is because of the physical movement and processing power of their brains. Are human beings comparable?"

"A human brain takes approximately twenty percent of the calories ingested each day," Wesley answered as he turned to scan the sidearm left on the ground by Karl. "Actually, that's a very simplistic way of putting it. The human brain uses about twenty percent of our energy during a period at our resting metabolic rate. But studies have never reliably shown that a 'smarter' brain uses more energy than one that's not as smart. My own theory is that a 'smarter' brain for a specific task will be more efficient in performing that task, thereby using less energy."

"That makes sense," Cy agreed. "The human brain adapts in ways the cylon one cannot. If a cylon is built for a specific design, they are more efficient. The centurion is a multi use cylon, and therefore uses more power to perform a wider variety of tasks. This is the reason we decided to make humanform cylons."

Wesley glanced up from his tricorder and asked, "Humanform cylons?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know, but had to ask.

"They are a special line of cylon that is organic in nature. It is impossible to tell a humanform cylon from an actual human just by looking at physical characteristics."


End file.
